Two of a Kind
by Burnt Flower
Summary: The world changed horribly when Ash, Misty and Brock met a seemingly ordinary girl named 'Haruka'. But Haruka has unimaginable powers, and she uses them to destroy everything in her path in order to get revenge on one person...Misty. Chapter 6 up.
1. Blackthorn

**Author's Note:** _Rewritten this chapter 6-29-04._ This is my first shot at writing the actual characters of Pokemon (my other fic had made-up characters from my own imagination). This fan-fic has two main categories, Action & Adventure/ Drama, but it also contains Romance. It has AAML (though I will add a bit of some other pairing _evil snicker_), but if you expect them to hook up without any big problems in the present or future, you have another thing coming on. Oh, and another thing...I purposefully made one of the characters completely OOC (no, not Ash, Misty or Brock. I changed her name to her Japanese counterpart on purpose. With time, you'll see why) so she could fit well in the story. And yet another note... (I know you guys hate me by now ;)). Hope you guys don't mind mild Togepi bashing, or do you? Enjoy, and please tell me your opinions!  
  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon or anything, an obvious statement to say the least...  
  
**Two of a Kind  
**  
Ash, Misty and Brock were walking down a desolate path on their way to Blackthorn City. They had already passed the Ice Cave in which they got lost in for the past two days. Since the cave's walls were made of ice and the ground was always covered in frost and snow, they spent those two horrible days almost freezing to death and hadn't been able to have some peaceful sleep. Now, two days later, the trio was back on the road.   
  
They stayed quiet during their whole trip, due to their grumpy moods, which wasn't much of a surprise since they got absolutely no sleep. Ash was now half asleep, trying to keep his eyes open and occasionally leaning his head to one of his friends, but only receiving a rude awakening by an elbow in the gut or a mallet on the head. Pikachu was already asleep on top of his hat and snoring in a very cute way. Misty and Brock were also sleepy but not as much as Ash. But Misty was certainly in a worse mood than the other two because, to her, she didn't get much "beauty sleep". Togepi let out a yawn and decided to have an afternoon snooze.   
  
Brock opened his map slowly to see if they were going in the right direction, which to his dismay, was the wrong one.  
  
"Uh guys...I don't know how to tell you this but...welllll you see...We're lost," he replied afraid of their reactions, especially Misty's. _Please no mallet. Please no mallet. Please no mallet_, he thought over and over in his head.  
  
"What?! You mean the path that _you_ said was the right one actually took us to _nowhere?_" she spat in rage, obviously not in the best of moods. She grabbed the map out of Brock's hands and scanned it.  
  
"Brock..." she said slowly. "Did you know that...you were reading the map...UPSIDE DOWN?" With that Misty decided to grab her mallet and bash it hard onto Brock's head. The breeder laid on the ground dizzy with a bump three times larger than his head.   
  
"Look at all the Pidgeys...!"   
  
Misty put her mallet back to its rightful place, which in other words was thin air. She let out another cry of frustration. "Now what are we gonna do?" she shrieked.  
  
Ash, who had been asleep on a nearby tree, woke up thanks to all the commotion, and let out a sleepy yawn. He opened his eyes a bit and could make out Brock's silhouette on the ground and Misty stomping the ground with her foot and screaming, but the drowsy (and dense) part of his brain ignored this.  
  
"Could you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep..." That was Ash's last sentence before he felt a tremendous force upon his head and he landed next to Brock on the ground.  
  
"Birdies are nice," both of the guys said and they both passed out on the spot.   
  
Pikachu chuckled a bit. He knew they'd be ok...eventually. Togepi who woke up from its slumber, happily chirped next to Pikachu, who was happy from other people's sufferings. Misty sat calmly under the tree that Ash was under and examined the map. "Hmm...from the looks of this map...we're not too far away from Blackthorn City...or we used to..._Thanks to Brocko over here..._ she thought. "Now if we just follow this trail...or maybe that other line...or was it-wait...we're lost..." she said gloomily.  
  
Togepi who saw his mother so sad, tried to cheer her up by begging her for food. Misty who saw the eager little egg's face took out what was left of yesterday's poke chow. Togepi eagerly ate his food, while Pikachu ate what was left of this meager lunch. Misty sat silently admiring the scenery...which just happened to be a rocky and dusty path with a bunch of trees. Ok so it wasn't very scenic, but at least it gave her some time to be alone by herself. After half an hour, she was getting a bit bored.  
  
"Ok guys time to go!" she said. Misty put Togepi in her backpack and Pikachu got a ride on her shoulder. She picked up all her stuff (including the map) and dragged off the boys, who were still knocked out, with amazing strength. She walked down the same path they were in for another half an hour to rest.   
  
"Gee, since when did Brock and Ash gain weight?" she said putting down the guys and relaxing her stiff arms. Togepi laughed again and went running to some random direction followed by Pikachu, who was always worried for 'PiPiPi's' protection. Misty didn't even notice this since she was too tired. Pikachu finally got a hold on Togepi, but the maniac egg got away again. The egg chase lasted for quite awhile until they noticed a boy coming their direction. They stopped in their tracks in curiosity. Misty looked up also. _Hey, maybe he knows where Blackthorn City is_! she thought happily.  
  
Once the boy got nearer she could see him clearly. The boy was almost the same height as Ash, but he was a bit chubbier. He had very curly brown hair and deep black eyes; he wore a long sleeved green shirt, with a pair of overused jeans, and worn out sandals. He had a nice tan and he would've seemed quite cute if it hadn't been for the angry expression on his face. But his most interesting characteristic was a long scar on his left cheek.   
  
"Excuse me but do you know where Blackthorn City is? We've been lost for quite a while," she said politely.   
  
The boy glanced at her for the first time and he smiled. "I sure do miss!" he said. Misty was cheering silently in her head when the boy's expression changed. "But I'll only tell you if you can beat me in a Pokemon battle!" he said, grinning.  
  
Misty fell over in a silly pose. _Not another trainer..._ But Ash got up immediately, hearing the words 'battle' and 'Pokemon'.   
  
"I'll be the one to battle you!" he replied and Pikachu jumped onto his head while the duo made their 'ready-to-battle' pose.   
  
"You got it kid!" the boy said, taking out one of his five pokeballs. Brock, who always was the referee, got up.   
  
'This we'll be a two on two battle. No time limit. Let the battle begin!" he stated. Misty sat on the grass patiently, waiting for Ash's first choice.  
  
"Ok then, Pikachu go!" he shouted. Pikachu jumped off from his hat and started getting ready to battle his opponent.  
  
"Well then I choose you, Wooper!" The boy yelled. Wooper came out in a flash and went to a nearby puddle to splash around.  
  
"Woooopa!" he happily cried and splashed his small feet in the water, unaware of his adversary.  
  
"Come on Ash you can beat him!" Misty encouraged. Ash got a bit red on the face but gave her a thumbs up. Misty never complimented him much.   
  
"Pikachu use Thunder Shock!" he commanded. Pikachu let out a surge of pure white electricity towards the water. Wooper quickly jumped out of it quickly and gave Pikachu an unmistakable smug look.   
  
"Bad move kid. Wooper use tackle!" the boy commanded. With great speed, Wooper headed toward Pikachu's direction, and tried to ram him with his head. Pikachu squealed in surprise, and .   
  
"Ash, be careful! That Wooper is very well trained!" Brock warned from the sidelines.   
  
"Don't worry, Brocko! We can handle it!" Ash said and grinned at Pikachu, who smiled back, but soon his attention was once again on Wooper.  
  
"Wooper give him a Water Gun attack!" the boy ordered loudly.   
  
Wooper shot a strong, sparkling stream of water at Pikachu. He ducked once again, but Wooper continued to shoot Water Gun attacks at him. Pikachu dodged all of Wooper's attacks with his remarkable speed, but he was getting tired very fast.   
  
"Ok Pikachu, Scratch attack!" Ash yelled.   
  
"Pikaaaaachu!" he cried and started scratching Wooper's face with his pointy claws. Wooper could barely evade his attacks, but he saw an opening just under Pikachu's chin and Head Butted him. Pikachu was hurt from the attack, and clutched his stomach with one of his paws, while trying to repress a squeak of pain.   
  
"_Pikachu_, are you ok?" Ash said worriedly.  
  
"Pika pikachu," he nodded, feigning to be perfectly fine.  
  
"Great, now give him your best Thunderbolt!" Ash said, believing Pikachu.  
  
Pikachu concentrated on using most of his electrical power in this attack. His cheeks started to glow yellow with pure energy and with a mighty cry, he let loose a powerful Thunderbolt that lit up the whole forest.  
  
The Thunderbolt reached its target, but Wooper smiled confidently when the electricity covered his body. The boy smirked when the attack didn't affect Wooper at all.   
  
"It appears that your Pikachu's electric attack didn't work," he replied snidely.  
  
"Ash, you idiot! Wooper is a water and a ground type Pokemon! Ground Pokemon are not affected by electricity!" Misty shouted, clearly annoyed. _Dumb Ash..._ she thought.  
  
Ash got annoyed at her comment, but decided to let it pass. _What does she know..._ But Ash's lack of concentration on the battle was just the thing Wooper needed. He started slapping Pikachu with his tail.   
  
"Pikachu! Try biting his tail!" Ash said, furious at himself for his lack of attention.   
  
Pikachu tried to get a hold of Wooper's tail with his mouth, but it was way too slippery and Wooper escaped from his grasp.  
  
"Ok, now is your chance Wooper. Use Earthquake!" the boy demanded.   
  
Pikachu didn't have time to react when the earth's surface rose up and cracked under his feet. He lost his balance, just when many sharp rocks hit him. Pikachu couldn't fight anymore and slumped on the ground, defeated.  
  
"Pikachu can no longer battle! This round goes to...ummm...what's your name?" Brock asked, embarrassed. Everyone fell down at this, but Ash got up quickly.  
  
"Pikachu!" Ash rushed over to his injured friend. He scooped him up into his arms. "Are you ok...buddy?" he said, his voice full of concern. Pikachu nodded. "You need a rest," he said. He placed Pikachu onto Misty's lap and she gave him a confused look in return. "Please take care of Pikachu, Misty." He gave her a small smile.  
  
"You'll be ok Pikachu. Misty will take good care of you." He walked back to were his opponent was.   
  
_Ash really does care for his Pokemon..._ Misty thought admiringly, not for the first time. Fighting back a blush, she quickly turned her attention to the battle.  
  
"I guess your little Pikachu couldn't handle my Wooper, now could he?" the boy asked Ash, a mocking smile on his lips.   
  
"Let's see if you can handle this!" Ash growled and he chose Bayleef as his next Pokemon.   
  
"Bayyyy!" she said happily, tackling Ash over, and nuzzling his cheek with her leaf.   
  
"Uh...Bayleef this isn't the time to cuddle..." Ash said embarrassed, aware of the stares in their direction. Bayleef saw her opponent and stared at Wooper defiantly.  
  
"Ok Wooper, Mud slap attack!" the boy said warily.   
  
Wooper kicked the muddy ground at Bayleef's eyes. Bayleef reeled back, trying to avoid the mud but it was useless.  
  
The boy smirked at Ash while he mumbled furiously under his breath. "Bayleef, concentrate hard! Use Vine whip on Wooper!"   
  
Bayleef blindly covered Wooper's body and slammed him hard to the ground. Wooper landed on his head, and blacked out as soon as he crashed on the ground. Brock took a good look at Wooper and held his hand up.   
  
"Wooper is unable to battle! This round goes to Ash!"  
  
"Yeah!" Ash screamed with childish glee and started to dance with an equally happy Bayleef.   
  
"Bay, BAAAAAYYY!" she said delightedly, and with that, she started cuddling against Ash's chest. Ash tenderly patted the leaf on her head.   
  
"I'm happy too Bay, but you still gotta battle." Ash said awkwardly. Bayleef gave him a smile and waited for his next opponent.  
  
The kid, who wasn't happy at all, recalled his fainted Wooper. "He won't like this..." he sneered and threw out his next Pokemon.  
  
And out came a Typhlosion.   
  
Ash became a bit worried when he saw it, but had total faith in Bayleef. She always came through in the end, and she would also win this time.   
  
Bayleef was a bit afraid of fire Pokemon, but if it made Ash proud of her, she would battle.  
  
_I hope Ash wins or we'll still be stuck in this stinking road..._ Misty thought, and sighed gloomily. Maybe Bayleef's affection towards Ash will help her win.  
  
"Bayleef! Use your take-down on Typhlosion!" Ash yelled. Bayleef was running at full speed towards Typhlosion with a very determined look in her eyes.   
  
The boy just laughed at this. "Typhlosion, Flamethrower!" Typhlosion shot a massive Flamethrower attack directly at Bayleef. Bayleef managed to dodge most of it, but the left side of her body was slightly burned. Bayleef glared at Typhlosion and awaited her master's next command.  
  
"Umm...try a Razor Leaf Attack?" he said sheepishly and before Bayleef had the time to beat the living daylights out of Ash for telling her such a stupid attack, Typhlosion came running toward Bayleef at full speed, and tackling her with the force of a speeding train. Bayleef landed very hard on the ground, but being the stubborn Pokemon she was, she refused to give up.  
  
"Bayleef, are you ok?" Ash said preoccupied.  
  
Bayleef tried to say 'With no thanks from you' but remembered she couldn't speak Human. Bayleef managed to stand up and glared at a very bored Typhlosion, who was scratching his ears at the moment. Hoping with all her heart that her platonic love made an intelligent choice, she waited.  
  
"Ok Bayleef, use Vine Whip on Typhlosion!"  
  
Thanking the Pokemon Gods that her trainer didn't yell out another stupid command (though it wasn't the best of her attacks), she started running towards Typhlosion and taking out her vines from each side of her body. Typhlosion was also prepared for this, and before the Vine Whip could hit any part of his body, he got a strong hold of Bayleef's Vine Whip and pulled with all his strength, bringing her towards him. Bayleef, surprised at this for a second, pulled back just as strongly. The fierce Tug-O-War game was making a great strain in Bayleef's vines and she started to grunt in pain.  
  
The boy noticed Bayleef's increasing weakness, and started to smile nastily.   
  
"Typhlosion! Use Slash, Now!!"  
  
Typhlosion let go of one of Bayleef's Vines and with his outstretched claws he slashed with all his might on the other vine of Bayleef.  
  
Bayleef, shrieked in pain, and tried to nurse her injuries. But since she was in the middle of a battle Typhlosion tackled her once more and Bayleef landed to the floor with a loud thud.  
  
"Bayleef! Can you stand up?" Ash said anxiously and started checking her head to see if she was unconscious.  
  
Brock also came running to see her. He took one good look at her and shook his head sadly towards Ash.  
  
"Typhlosion is the win-"  
  
He was interrupted by Bayleef's whimpers. She opened her eyes slowly, and when they focused on Typhlosion, they narrowed in anger. Struggling to get back up, and ignoring Ash's pleas, Bayleef glared at all of them, as if asking anyone to defy her. She managed to stand, but she was a bit wobbly at the knees.  
  
"Are you sure you can fight, Bay?" Ash asked with worry.  
  
Bayleef nodded firmly. She was going to defeat Typhlosion even if it killed her.  
  
"Well, well, well...I'm impressed! That Bayleef of yours is made of tougher stuff that I thought!" The boy said with evident amazement in his voice.  
  
"Of course she is! I trained my Bayleef very hard!" Ash said with pride.   
  
It appeared to Misty that Bayleef had hearts fluttering in front of her eyes, but quickly returned to their normal red color.  
  
Bayleef was formulating a revenge plan to get back at Typhlosion. Oh, it was going to work perfectly all right. Ash's voice was getting faraway and distant, fading with the forest. The only thing on her mind was Typhlosion and how he was preparing to launch her a Flamethrower attack. She moved out of the way easily. She feinted a Vine Whip Attack to the right. He dodged to the left.   
  
Perfect.  
  
That's when her vines quickly turned left and slapped him to the floor. Typhlosion was caught off-balance and landed brusquely on the ground.   
  
He was trying to get up but Bayleef was ready. She used another Vine Whip again and wrapped them around Typhlosion's ankles. She faintly registered that flames were burning her body and almost covering her completely. She ignored the fire like it was some sort of pesky bug. Pain was not important now.  
  
With impressive strength, she lifted Typhlosion's humongous body off the ground and tossed him carelessly a few feet away. He landed roughly on the ground, flattening some shrubbery with his heavy weight. Typhlosion was obviously unconscious and just when Brock was rushing over to proclaim Ash's victory, Bayleef started to absorb light. Her leaf started to glow a brilliant yellow. She could feel others demanding her to stop and bringing out other Pokemon to restrain her. She didn't give them the slightest attention, and focused at the task at hand. The Solar Beam was ready, and with a blinding flash of power, that was so intense that everybody had to cover their eyes, the Solar Beam reached its target.  
  
The explosion was immense and everybody stumbled and tried to find a place to hide. The ground shook violently, Ash lost his balance and ducked behind a rock. Togepi was crying shrilly, only worried about his own protection. Pikachu ran over to protect him with his own body. For one wild moment (if not longer) everyone thought they were going to die. But the light dimmed and they were able to open their eyes again. But they were soon met by gray, as smoke was covering their vision.  
  
"Bayleef/Typhlosion!" The two trainers said at the same time and ran towards them, almost falling into a hole. And it sure was a hole. It was a gigantic crater that was about thirty feet long in diameter, and twenty feet deep. Several trees were completely burnt. Some Caterpies and Weedles that were unlucky to be near the area were completely frightened, while others had been injured gravely. But to Ash's relief and complete joy, Bayleef was still standing, panting, with sweat trickling down her spine. Typhlosion was at her feet, while she stepped on him with one hoof as some kind of prize.   
  
She gave him a winning smile and with a small, "Bay..." she fainted on top of Typhlosion's body.  
  
"Ash! Is Bayleef all right?" said Misty, worry written all over her face. Brock came running soon after, and gasped at how badly burnt her body was. Her usual yellow skin was now a dark brown color and the leaves around her neck resembled black torn bits of paper. Her breathing was ragged and uneven.  
  
"Will Bayleef be ok, Brock?" said Ash anxiously, patting Bayleef's burnt skin softly, in fear of making the injuries worse.  
  
Brock didn't respond and took two potions out of his dusty backpack. "Luckily we bought all the necessary potions and medicines at Mahogany Town. This Hyper Potion will do the trick," he said with a reassuring smile.  
  
Ash immediately felt relieved but as soon as Brock started spraying the potion on her body, Bayleef began whimpering in pain. Misty tried to soothe her with calm words. Brock took out some strange berries and squashed them into mush. He applied the gooey substance on her leaves, and they immediately began to take their healthy green color again. Slowly, Bayleef's body looked healthy again.  
  
"She needs some rest until we can get her to a Pokemon Center," he said, but a blush and a goofy grin were appearing on his face. "Nurse Joy..."  
  
"Not this again..." Misty said with an exasperated sigh.  
  
Meanwhile, the strange kid called back Typhlosion to his PokeBall. He mumbled something under his breath and shook his head. He headed towards Ash.  
  
"Nobody has ever beaten me in a Pokemon battle. _Nobody_," he stated firmly. He had an angry expression on his face, and for one moment Misty thought that Ash was in for a beating, but the kid broke into a big grin. "And for that, I'll tell you where Blackthorn City is."   
  
Misty could've kissed the boy in gratitude, but restrained herself at seeing his dry, raspy lips. _Also I'd prefer to kiss another certain trainer..._ she thought and stared pointedly at Ash, who was currently dancing some sort of chicken dance with Pikachu.  
  
"We won! We won!" he said with glee and whispered words of thanks to Bayleef, even if she was unconscious.  
  
The kid and Brock were discussing about directions, map in hand.  
  
"See here? You have to make a right turn on a Dugtrio-shaped mountain until you reach some strange trees. You'll know when you see 'em. Keep going straight on that road and make a left swerve." His finger trailed along a brown squiggly line on the map.   
  
"It's a bit of a rocky walk, oh and whatever you do, _don't_ make a right turn, it's a bit of a short cut to Blackthorn, but mutated Pokemon were reported in that area. The land isn't safe anymore because of the chemicals that come from this abandoned laboratory. There are rumors about that lab...about strange illegal experiments...some folks say that they used _humans_ as lab rats and did horrible things to them..." he said with a shudder. "Nobody knows the real reason as to why it was shut down. Or abandoned. People are scared to go there and they're scared that they'd find all of the answers..."   
  
Misty, who came to check on Brock and heard most of their conversation, became very quiet. Misty felt as if she was drenched in cold water. It was really inhumane to experiment on innocent people. But there was something else that was bothering her but couldn't quite put a finger to it.  
  
The kid's entire mysterious demeanor changed instantly. He was back to telling Brock some other minor directions and helpful advice.  
  
Misty was only half-listening. _Those poor people..._ She didn't know why it affected her so much. 'But...what exactly did they do to them?' In a way she didn't want to know, but a little part of her would feel a bit at rest if she knew, no matter how horrible it was. _Could I possibly go take a quick look? No!_ She scolded herself. It was crazy, if the lab was dangerous and harmful, who on Earth would want to go there? It was an insane prospect. _But as soon as I get to Blackthorn, I'll find someone who'll know what things wen-  
_  
"Hey, Mishty! Wach de madder?" Ash said with a full mouth, standing right behind her, while taking another big bite out of his apple. His cheeks were so round it resembled those of a Sentret.   
  
Misty just shook her head at this and rolled her eyes at Ash who was currently in a contest with Pikachu as to who could eat more apples. Ash was winning, but Pikachu, being the great apple lover that he was, was closely behind. Soon they couldn't eat even one more bite, but Pikachu was grinning madly, his red pouches almost the size of his head. Pikachu gulped quickly all of his apples and patted his belly in satisfaction. Ash had a harder time to swallow, but when it was halfway through his throat, Ash jumped up and down, indicating that he was choking. Misty took out her extra water bottle and hastily handed it to Ash. He grabbed it and in one swallow gulped all of its contents.   
  
"Thanks I needed that," Ash said, taking a big breath. Misty just gave him a smile, too distracted by her thoughts to speak. There was a long silence, but not exactly tense, since Ash soon took his attention off her. She sat on a nearby rock and started playing with Togepi, her mind elsewhere. Ash, meanwhile, was combing Pikachu's yellow fur, taking extra care to untangle the knots.  
  
"Hey guys, let's get a move on! We don't want to camp out yet another night, do we?" Brock shouted, though he was referring the last sentence to Misty. She broke out of her silence reverie quickly, not wanting to spend another night with creepy bugs and sore backs.   
  
They were set to go, Brock taking extra care to check their inventory. The kid walked off the opposite direction.   
  
"Where are you heading to?" Ash exclaimed, but the boy didn't even give him a backward glance. Being the friendly guy that he was, Ash said goodbye to him. The kid lifted his hand, and waved it a bit as though he could see Ash, but never turned back once.  
  
The trio walked in silence for a while, on a lookout for a Dugtrio-shaped mountain. Brock was engrossed in the map, not even watching if there was a Dugtrio mountain nearby. Ash yawned a bit, still a bit tired of his lack of sleep, while Pikachu snoozed on top of his cap. Misty was the one who was keeping a sharp lookout, unaware of her two companions' lack of help. Togepi was back inside his shell making loud snoring sounds - cute to gullible people. They passed a few trees, until she saw three perfect oval shaped mountains that resembled Dugtrios.  
  
"Guys, look! There's the Dugtrio mountains!"  
  
Ash gave the mountains a fleeting glance before stretching and yawning widely. Brock had a proud smile on his face, but didn't direct his gaze at Misty, causing her to glare at him. "Ok, now let's make a right turn!"  
  
Everyone turned right, and went back to what they were doing. Now Misty was searching for some strange trees, but she just saw the same trees, they had different details but nothing that'd stood out of the crowd. Half an hour passed and still she didn't see and out-of-the-ordinary trees. Ash was completely asleep and drooling on Misty's shoulder, but she was too frustrated at not finding the trees that she didn't notice him. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she spotted it. It was three trees in a bizarre arch to each other, forming something like a door frame. There was a tree in the middle of those two, that was entangled in the middle of the two trees.  
  
"I found the trees!" Misty turned to the other two, and to her surprise, and embarrassment, Ash lay snuggled in her arm. She turned crimson, but Ash's drool completely ruined the cute scene.  
  
"Ash! You're drooling all over me!" she screamed and shoved Ash away, her cheeks a bit flushed.   
  
Ash awoke instantly, glared at Misty and was about to retort when Brock stopped him. "You two can fight when we get to Blackthorn. I'm out of aspirins." Ash and Misty looked ready to kill, but Brock finally noticed the trees. "Ha! I knew it! See, there's another road here." Misty was about to get out her trusty mallet, but decided that he'd get a nasty bashing later. _Too tired anyway_ she thought sleepily and she yawned.  
  
They kept walking straight on this road. There wasn't any magnificent scenery or anything. Ash was still ticked off with Misty and tried to stay awake.   
  
Togepi awoke, and rubbed his eyes with his fingerless paws. Something moved past in the bushes, which caught Togepi's attention. It was some kind of fur ball, covered completely in lavender hair and it had two enormous blue eyes. The creature squeaked, and ran away when Togepi saw it.  
  
Togepi giggled madly and tore out of Misty's arms. He followed the strange creature, still giggling like a lunatic.  
  
"Togepi!" Misty yelled, and ran after Togepi. The two others tried to keep up with a frantic Misty. Togepi hid behind some bushes out of site. She noticed that the darling egg was moving further out of their way. Turning right at the road. Brock was a bit preoccupied, not that Togepi had gone, but at the simple fact of turning right.  
  
"Misty! We're-we're turning right!" panted Brock, but Misty paid him no heed. Ash also forgot about the strange kid's warning, running a bit faster.   
  
They were now in a deep part of the forest, the trees were so close to each other that they scraped the trio's arms and backs.   
  
"Togepiiiiiii! Where are you?" Misty kept on calling. After running, for who-knows-how-much time the trees weren't so close together. Bright sunlight suddenly filtered even more through the dense leaves. They suddenly arrived at a large clearing where Togepi was, who was still following the lavender creature.  
  
There in the middle of the clearing, stood a white structure. Its white paint was peeling off and leaving a light brown color beneath the walls. A rusty wired fence surrounded the entire building. The grass was a sickening yellow, sticking out of the surface rather oddly, and dead mutant Rattatas laid scattered, their features too grotesque for words. There was a putrid smell in the air, stinging their eyes, their nose and mouth. They quickly covered their faces with handkerchiefs. Large barrels were overturned, which still contained some sort of pink disgusting liquid, while the earth absorbed it slowly. A large _'Private Property. Do not Enter' _hung on the fence crookedly, since it was old with age.   
  
Ash was the first to react, taking over Misty's motherly role, as Togepi went under an opening in the fence. Misty snapped out of her stunned trance and went after them. Being the skinniest out of the three, she went under the fence with almost no problem. Ash had a bit of a problem, but after much struggle, he came to the other side. Brock was too large to fit in the small hole so he climbed over the fence, and was covered in scratches when he landed.   
  
The lavender fur ball screeched loudly and entered the building when it saw a mad Togepi who was laughing loudly and waving his glowing blue paws, but stopped when his target wasn't in sight. With a huff, Togepi entered inside. Ash came next, almost slipping on some puce liquid with black dots. Misty jumped over the strange puddle, and scrambled inside. Brock soon after.  
  
It was dark inside, eerie green shadows were flickering on the walls, daring them to enter further. The floor was made of marble and so were the stairs. Broken glass littered on the floor and the putrid smell still lingered in the air but with less intensity. They took a cautious step forward, wondering if something would attack them. Misty didn't like this place one bit; she felt as if the place itself would never let them leave. She, somehow, could still hear and feel the pain of the victims of those who used to be here, screams once echoing off these walls. She was scared, but she put on a brave face for her friends. And to top it all off, Togepi wasn't anywhere in sight.  
  
"Let's split up. We can find Togepi faster this way," Ash said slowly. _It'd be better if we just left Togepi here, a mad egg could get used to a place like this..._ but didn't state his thought out loud in fear of broken limbs.  
  
Misty nodded, even if she hated the idea. They all gave quick glances at each other and split up. Ash went upstairs. Brock turned to a landing to the left, and Misty went straight ahead. The hallway contained many, many doors, but she didn't know where to start. Misty was trembling lightly now, turning around quickly at the smallest sound. She went to the furthest door, deciding to start from there.  
  
It was a door made of pure steel. A keypad was beside it for extra security. Misty noticed the door was a bit ajar so she opened it further.   
  
The room was filled with scientific machinery, most of them covered in many layers of dust. Something that caught her attention was a strange machine that loomed high in the ceiling, metal sticking in different unorganized directions, at the tip of each metal arm stuck different orbs.  
  
Large jars stored embryos of newborn Pokemon in a bright yellow liquid, all staring at Misty with unmoving and lifeless eyes. Bottles with different liquids were neatly ordered in a stack. Glass and liquids also resided on the floor and Misty took extra precaution on walking. There was a large oak table with needles, small bottles of chemicals she never seen, syringes and to her horror - _knives_...in many different sizes, most of them a bit rusty, their edges a dark red color.  
  
Misty was shuddering violently by now, taking backward steps, away from the knives. Anything to get away from them. She felt mentally and physically sick. Misty took deep, calming breaths to calm her racing heart.   
  
She stopped going backwards when she felt smooth glass against her back and hands. She turned around quickly and gasped at what she saw. It was an oval machine. The back of it was pure metal with a very sophisticated looking control panel, while the front was covered in a very resistant glass. A light green liquid was inside this machinery, and many gray cables were inside, connected to the upper part of the machinery, while the lower parts of the cables were floating around serenely. Two deadly looking devices, that resembled shock devices, were on each side of the haunting sort of suspension center. _Torture devices I bet..._ Misty thought, feeling even sicker than before. And that's when it hit her. This is where the humans were kept. Like some sort of freak show aquarium for everyone to see.  
  
Now Misty felt like puking, but resisted the urge. There was another machine similar to the one she saw but unlike that one, this one was shattered at the top. Torture devices laid ruined on the floor, along with twisted metal. Millions of glass pieces were scattered all over the slimy floor. The lower part still had green liquid and also some cables, but to her complete amazement about a dozen of journals were also inside. She didn't know what made her do it, but she dipped her hand to the bottom, and was relieved that the liquid wasn't harmful. Misty picked one of the journals, which was drenched completely and she carefully opened its pages. Black smudges of ink covered the journal's pages, completely unreadable. Misty took out an old cloth from her backpack and wrapped it around the wet journal. She shoved the journal back inside and headed for the door, confused by her own actions.  
  
She was just about to close the door and head out when she saw something that made her blood run cold, and her eyes grew huge in horror. There, in a hidden corner away from everything, laid a rotting corpse. It had a white laboratory coat, covered in blood that was still fresh and no trace of the object that did this crime to him. His sunken green eyes stared at Misty unblinkingly, and his mouth was wide open in surprise. His blond hair hung limply against his head, covering half his face.   
  
Misty let out a blood-curling scream that made all the windows rattle.

**()()()**

"TOGEPI! Where are you?" Ash shouted loudly, hoping that Togepi would come out from wherever he was. Pikachu was using Flash to light the dark room they were in - he had opened the thick door hoping Togepi was inside, but then remembered later that Togepi wasn't tall enough to reach the handle. He was about to open the door again and continue his search elsewhere, but some pictures in the wall caught his attention.   
  
They were lined in perfect lines. Twenty pictures in each row, a hundred in total and one picture standing alone and on top of the rest of them. The picture frame was much bigger than the other ones. As Ash inched closer he could make out that each photo contained one employee; including his name and status. With each passing name that he read -Lagalant, Mane, William, Forest, Toob, Chang...- he became even more uneasy and apprehensive. What happened to all of them? Did they just quit or did something horrible happen to them? But Ash remembered what he heard from the kid he battled earlier, and anger replaced his anxiety. Whatever happened to the employees - they deserved it.  
  
A long piercing scream, made his heart stop and with a sense of dread he recognized the scream as-  
  
"MISTY!" he screamed. Ash was out the door running as fast as he could, almost crashing into Pikachu, jumping the stairs three at a time, and hoping that Misty was fine.

**()()()  
**  
Brock was running down the hallway calling Togepi. He was out of luck, and this place was making him a bit jittery. He was about to open another door when something made him stop completely in his track. A high-pitched scream was vibrating everywhere, it's source not far off.  
  
_Misty!_ He panicked and was just about to head towards her when he almost tripped on a small object. There at his feet, a completely happy, Togepi was standing in all his gleeful glory. It seemed his mother's scream just made him even happier.  
  
Brock inspected Togepi a bit, and carried him in his arms, running at full speed, past the door.

**()()()**  
  
Both boys reached Misty as fast as they could. They were out of breath, and were panting slightly. Misty was in front of them, ghostly pale with her eyes wide open, staring at some far unknown place. She didn't notice that Brock and Ash were in front of her.   
  
"Misty are you ok? Are you hurt? What attacked you? What did you see? Why did you scream?"  
  
they said, barraging her with even more questions. She still didn't fully notice their presence.   
  
"C-c-orpse," she said in a strangled sort of voice that didn't sound like her at all. Both boys' faces drained of the little color that was left in them. Misty was shaking violently now and forming her hands into fists. Ash placed a hand on top of her fist in an attempt to calm her; her trembling barely subsided but she was still pale.  
  
"Look who's here Misty, Togepi! He's all right!" Brock tried to make his voice sound cheerful.  
  
Misty twisted her mouth into a strange forced smile. She picked him up at an arms' length and didn't seem to be excited to see him at all. On the contrary, she looked ready to chuck the egg out of the nearest window. Togepi was full of energy, he was kicking his small legs in the air and struggling to escape again.  
  
"Let's go," she managed to say. They nodded somberly and left the place quietly.   
  
A hairy lavender creature laughed cruelly, when it made sure they were out of sight, and jumped up and down on the bloody corpse. He opened his mouth, which revealed small razor sharp teeth that lined his gums. He went under the man's laboratory coat and vest, where a large bloody gaping hole in his stomach . It took another big bite out of the corpse's body, making disgusting squishing sounds as he munched on his supper of organs and flesh, messily covering his face in blood. Finally satisfied, he licked his blood stained teeth clean, before heading back upstairs to finish some unknown business.

**()()()**  
  
They reached Blackthorn City by nightfall. Blackthorn City was more of a small cozy village than a city, judging by the smoke that was drifting lazily from the cottages' chimneys. They didn't talk much after they left the laboratory. Misty was back again to her normal self, but her two companions knew her too well. They both knew Misty was still in shock at what she saw and it'd take her some time to be back to normal.  
  
The Pokemon Center was something like a relief to all of them. It was much smaller than other Pokemon Centers, but the trio was never happier to enter one. Once they entered past the doors, they were met by the usual bustling scene of Chanseys helping injured Pokemon, and a pleasant Nurse Joy who booked rooms to younger and older trainers alike typing them to her computer. It was quieter now, it must've been almost to closing time.  
  
"Hello, how may I help you?" said Nurse Joy politely, but judging by the bags under her eyes, she was beyond tired.   
  
"Oh Nurse Joy! Your dazzling beauty brightened my da-" Brock was hauled away by an annoyed Misty.   
  
"Save it for another day Romeo, like maybe never?" Misty growled and dropped Brock to the floor.  
  
Nurse Joy sweatdropped before shaking her head a bit and giving them a small smile. "Will you stay for the night then?" Misty nodded.  
  
Ash was asleep on a nearby chair, his head propped up by his hand, but a loud ringing sound awakened Ash's dreamy stupor.   
  
"Ring-Ring. Ring-Ring. Phone Call! Phone Call!" repeated the video phone in a very annoying robotic voice. Nurse Joy picked it up, and nodded to the screen. "Are any of you Ash Ketchum?" she questioned.  
  
"That's me." Puzzled at who would call him, he picked up the receiver. His mother's face appeared on the screen, still as young as ever with a big smile on her face.  
  
"Honey, I'm so glad to see you! Guess who's here at home..." she finished in a tone to invite Ash for a guessing game. He didn't have a single clue as to who could be mom's surprise guests.  
  
"Er...dunno mom..." he shrugged, but his eyes were holding great curiosity.  
  
"Grandma and Grandpa are at home! They can't wait to see you again!" she said, her whole face glowing with happiness.  
  
Ash didn't expect this answer at all. He hadn't seen his grandparents since he was eight, and guiltily forgot about them since then. He eagerly wanted to see them also but... what about the gym badge? He needed only one to compete in the Johto League. Also, how was he going to get to Pallet? Walking would take many months and going by train would also consist of lots of walking, to get to Goldenrod City.  
  
"Mom, but how am I going to get to Pallet Town?" he asked.  
  
"Oh don't worry dear! I got it all worked out. You'll take the 12:30 flight to Pallet." Ash was surprised. He didn't know there was an airport in such a small town. "Here's your ticket!" A small piece of paper appeared in a tiny slot below the screen. Ash frowned. "Mom there's only one ticket here."  
  
Delia put her hands to her cheeks. "Oh I'm so sorry honey! I forgot to buy your friends tickets. But don't worry! You'll only stay here for only one day. I know how much Pokemon Training means to you." she said soothingly. Ash checked his watch. To his alarm, it was twelve o' clock.  
  
"Bye Mom! Gotta run!" he said hurriedly and cut the connection. He was going to tell Misty and Brock about the change of plans, but they were right behind him with understanding eyes.  
  
"Don't worry Ash! We'll stay at the Pokemon Center 'till you get back." Brock said and patted his back.  
  
"Yeah Ash! You just have a great time!" Misty continued.  
  
Ash looked at his two friend in silent thanks, But Ash broke eye contact immediately. He scooped Pikachu roughly, almost shocking Ash in the process.  
  
"Bye guys! See you soon!" Ash said, and he was gone in a flash.  
  
Misty sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.   
  
She was preparing to go to their rooms when Brock stopped her. "What is it Brock?" Misty said in an irritated voice. No one was going to stop her from a good night's sleep.  
  
"Well Misty...I need to go to the market to buy tomorrow's breakfast...I kinda forgot to buy more food at Mahogany Town..." Brock said cringing.  
  
"Well go and get it then! You don't need me as a flashlight do you?" she snapped at him. _Soft bed. Comfy bed, Wonderful bed, I'm coming..._ she thought in a semi-dreamy stupor.  
  
"Eh...you see...I don't know what kind of milk Togepi drinks..." Brock said, cringing even more.   
  
Misty looked as if she was ready to shoot fire at Brock. She took out her mallet, and Brock covered his head with his arms. "_Fine_! But if we don't get here by closing time you're going to get it good!" she proceeded to wave her mallet menacingly. Brock nodded and they were out once again in the cold outdoors.  
  
Misty was in a bad mood but she hopefully wished the market wasn't too far away. The sooner in bed the better.

** ()()()**   
  
Haruka walked around aimlessly through town. This town brought her the worst memories of her life, but there was still a slim chance that they might be here, and she wasn't one of those people who waste opportunities. She searched throughout Kanto, but with no trace of them. Haruka made sure that she searched in every spot of Hoenn, also. Now she was continuing her quest in Johto, and if they weren't here...well...she'll solve that problem if they weren't here.  
  
Torchic was getting sleepy, his little orange head was drooping next to her shoe. _We better reach the Pokemon Center soon. Hope it's not too far off... _she thought gloomily.  
  
She sat on the cool grass and hugged herself in an attempt to warm herself. Her red suit wasn't exactly suited for cold weather, and to add to her troubles - she was very hungry. Haruka hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's breakfast, and she gave the only thing she considered food (a dried turnip) to her equally starving Torchic.  
  
But what Haruka saw made her forget her drowsiness and hunger. There, in front of her very own eyes... it was her.  
  
Kasumi.   
  
She was in a mini yellow shirt, with red suspenders, wearing red sneakers without socks, with a very short, short. Her strange hairstyle was a ponytail at the right side of her face, sticking out in a very strange angle. _Probably trying to impress that guy with her sluttish outfit_, she thought and smirked seeing the no-eyed weirdo. _I pity him._ But she was ecstatic now. So many years trying to find her. So much calculative planning that she made. It was all going to pay off.  
  
With a twisted sort of grin, she walked towards them.

**()()()**

Luckily, the market wasn't too far away and they finally got all the breakfast ingredients. Misty sighed disappointingly, she wasn't going to bash Brock on the head after all.  
  
They were almost to the Pokemon Center when a girl came from a path to their left. She had brown hair, with a bandanna around her head, giving her a female pirate look. She had piercing aquamarine eyes, and pale skin. She wore white gloves and a red, skin-tight shirt, and a brown pouch hung around her hips. She had skin-tight blue shorts and an unusual pair of red shoes.  
  
Brock went immediately to girl-mode. He clutched the girl's gloved hands and stared at her, blushing furiously, a pink bubble background behind them.  
  
"May I ask the name of the girl who stole my heart?" he said in a low voice and handed her a rose from out of nowhere. The girl was startled for a bit, but carefully took the flower and gave Brock an alluring smile.  
  
"The name you seek is Haruka. What's yours handsome?" she said lovingly.  
  
Misty was beyond shocked. _Another girl hitting on Brock?_ But Haruka was a bit different than Temaku, she was a bit _untrue_. Temaku's feelings for Brock were real, for the short time that was though; but Haruka gave Misty the impression of falsity.  
  
"Er...Hi, I'm Misty," she introduced herself hesitantly. Haruka ignored Brock completely for the moment and focused her entire attention on Misty.  
  
"Oh! Hi _Misty_! I've heard _so_ much about you! Are you the fourth member of the _sensational sisters_? _Right_? I wanted to meet you for such a _long_ time!" she grinned at Misty, but her smile just made Misty even more awkward and nervous around her. There was something completely wrong with Haruka, and she didn't know what.  
  
"Well I know I just met you guys and all...but I was wondering...Could I join your group for a while? I'm also heading to the Johto League...and I just thought..." she trailed off. She seemed to be pretty normal in this statement.  
  
_Maybe my lack of sleep is making me think strange things_, Misty thought, but she still didn't want her to join - after all, they didn't know anything about this girl, and she didn't seem too trustworthy. She was about to say this, but Brock interrupted her.  
  
"Of course! You're welcome to stay with us as long as you like!" he said this in one breath and the bizarre bubbly background was behind him again.  
  
"Thank you so much! I appreciate your kindness, sweetie!" Haruka kissed his cheek lightly causing Brock to flutter around with a love-struck smile on his face.   
  
Haruka and Brock were flirting around, but Misty swore that she saw a glint of malice in Haruka's eyes that were directed to her, whenever she thought Misty wasn't watching. But when she did, she waved a little and went back to flirting with Brock. This just made Misty more uneasy.  
  
They entered the Pokemon Center two minutes before closing time. Brock and Misty took out their room's key and opened their dormitory.   
  
"Well...goodni-" but was interrupted again by Brock.  
  
"Where are your manners Misty? Our charming guest also has the same privileges we do!" He took out a key with an engraved '34' on its brass surface. He unlocked the door, bowing low to Haruka as she entered the room.  
  
"Oh you're so kind!" Haruka plopped her bag on the bottom bunk, not noticing that Misty already put her bag down one second before her. Misty scowled, and climbed up to the top bunk; she took out her shoes and tried to make them land on Haruka's head. Not one landed near her, much to her disappointment.   
  
Haruka immediately went to the bathroom and changed. Gurgling and brushing noises were heard from inside and Misty wished she would stop. _Even though I brush my teeth everyday...but she annoys me!_ Misty thought angrily. Haruka came out in a light blue nightdress which had a low cut on the front, and only came down to her hips, which made Brock drool, at how much leg he saw. Misty turned her head away - repulsed.   
  
Haruka smiled at Brock as she entered her bed's warm covers, before covering her head completely.  
  
"Good night Brock!" said Misty, purposely leaving Haruka out.  
  
" 'Night Misty! Haruka..." Misty could almost feel Brock smiling at Haruka's name when he mentioned her.  
  
"Good Night, Misty..." Haruka said in a fake sweet voice. When the lights were turned off and everyone went to sleep, Haruka stayed awake, smiling broadly beneath the covers. _Enjoy your last night while you can..._

** ()()()()()()()()()()()**

Hope it's not too crappy for your tastes. ;) Please Review.


	2. Flames of Hatred

**Author's Notes:** Rewritten 15/10/04 _screams_ The italics won't work! Could someone please tell me in what format do they work because I tried everything (I swear I almost tore out all my hair when I previewed this fic). Thanks for all the reviews! You guys rock!  
  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon. Simple as that.  
  
**Flames of Hatred**  
  
Ash miraculously arrived at the airport at 12:20, though he was covered in twigs because he hadn't considered calling a cab in his hurry. The airport didn't have the usual gift shops, magazine kiosks, and snack bars (to his complete disappointment) that he had expected. It was very small compared to the other airports he'd gone to when he was just a little kid. The floor was made of splintered wood, that hadn't been bothered to be polished in the least. Worn out chairs lined the walls with different kinds of grease stains, and was ripped open in different places where the stuffing was coming out. There was also a single window in the room, but it was too dusty and grimy to be able to see outside properly. Cheap flower wallpaper was pealing of the walls and revealing small holes that weren't supposed to be seen. A rusty metal detector was in the center of the room. _Any madman could fool this bucket of bolts..._ Ash grimly thought.  
  
He was the only one in the room, beside a police woman who was slacking off, and instead, she was painting her nails a bright magenta. Ash was about to go through the metal detector, but he was startled when the woman called him over.  
  
"Passport?" she said in a monotonous voice, her eyes focused on her badly painted nails.  
  
"Err...don't have one now..." Ash completely forgot about bringing his rarely-used passport, and he was silently cursing himself for his forgetfulness.  
  
She put her nail polish down, and stared at Ash with bored eyes. "Well, when someone doesn't have a passport, I usually don't let that person pass, and write a report to my boss about it, or something..." she drawled on, wrapping her green chewing gum around her tongue. Ash hoped that his mom wouldn't torture him too much before killing him.  
  
"But I'll let you pass this time, as you can see I can't do anything with my hands. Can't ruin these perfectly painted nails, now can I?" She showed him her bitten nails; the nail polish dripping down her fingers, and covering her jeans with magenta spots. Ash almost said another of his idiotic remarks, but luckily he stopped himself in time.  
  
He went through the metal detector, and was glad not to hear any beeping noises. _Even though I'm carrying some coins, and a metal key chain..._ He went over to a door that was at the farthest place of the room and opened it.  
  
There, in front of his eyes was the most run-down airplane that he had ever seen. Even the plane he once boarded to get to Olivine City looked like a luxurious jet plane compared to this. It looked like if a toddler played with lots of metal, left his mess, and somehow added wings to it.  
  
Ash hoped he could reach Pallet Town in one piece.  
  
He wondered how he could get into the plane since there was no boarding ramp. But suddenly, as though it was hearing his thoughts, a long wooden ladder was brought down from the small plane's opening. An old lady appeared; she had several missing teeth, and was dressed in the wackiest array of colors, and wore knee-top leather combat boots. He went up the ladder with some hesitation while he carefully tried to avoid the splinters.  
  
"Well, what are you waitin' for, sonny? Get in or you'll catch a cold!" she shoved Ash inside with tremendous strength for an old lady. Ash groaned inwardly when he got inside; the plane was even worse inside than the outside. Moth eaten seats were lined against the wall, under the windows. The floor was covered in holes the size of footballs, large boxes were piled together at the end of the plane and judging by its smell, it was carrying rotten fish. Lots of it.  
  
"Sit down now! Don't want you fallin' off the plane now, eh?" She was so close to Ash's face, that he could smell her disgusting onion breath. He breathed normally when she left him and went back to the pilot's cockpit. It wasn't very different than the passengers' area, the only difference was the size capacity and Ash wondered how cramped the old lady must feel when she controlled the airplane.  
  
Ash sat down in one particularly old seat, squirming to find a comfortable position.  
  
"Flight Number 234, route to Celadon City, now heading off. All passengers are to fasten their seat belts, and dispose of their cigarettes before take-off!"  
  
_Wait a moment...did she say... _and Ash's eyes widened in horror. _Celadon City?  
_  
"Uh excuse me, miss?" Ash said politely, trying not to panic when he felt the plane moving. "Isn't this the flight to Pallet Town?" he asked lamely.  
  
"Pallet Town doesn't have an airport, sonny," said the old lady, chuckling. "Got on the wrong plane, eh?" and she chuckled even more wholeheartedly.  
  
"Please, I need to go to Pallet Town! Couldn't you make an exception?" he pleaded, trying to persuade the old lady with a puppy look that he often used on his own mother when he was desperate.  
  
She seemed to buy his act, by giving him a crooked smile. "Well...I wanted to see Pallet Town again for a while now. That's where -" her eyes filled up with tears, and she took a large yellow handkerchief from her pocket. "- I had to leave Shashooka, my lovely Meowth." She blew her nose loudly with the handkerchief. Ash knew how it felt to leave a Pokemon, and felt compassion for the old woman. "Thank goodness I have twenty-eight other Meowths, or I would've been so lonely!"  
  
Ash just slapped his forehead, and shook his head in dismay.  
  
"Oh how I adore those little balls of fur! And every single one of them is so different to the other! For example Stacie likes her milk colder that Koro and loves to play with her yarn ball for hours at times. She is so precious! And let's not forget good ol' Mango! He's a quiet one, he is. Likes to have second servings of the cat chow - he's got quite an appetite..." Ash was hearing the old lady, rambling on and on about her Meowths with glazed eyes. His mind was now in the land of the sleeping, while his eyes tried to stay open, so that she wouldn't discover that he was slumbering, instead of listening the stories of her fascinating Meowths.  
  
This was going to be a long trip all right.

* * *

****

Misty slowly opened her eyes to a new day. The room was fairly dark, and the room's inhabitants still slept peacefully, not bothering to awaken and disrupt their dreams so early in the morning.  
  
She was known to be a very heavy sleeper by her friends, and was surprised to be the first one up. But sleep was overtaking her once more, yet Misty decided against sleeping so she rubbed her eyes. She tossed her covers off, and headed to the bathroom. Misty shivered when her feet touched the cold tiled floor; it was just one of the many reasons of why she hated to wake up so early. She closed the door, and began brushing her teeth. She noted with some annoyance that her hair was a mess so she grabbed her hairbrush that was near the sink, and began to untangle the knots. When she was sure it was back to its normal state, she pulled up her hair in its usual ponytail. She splashed water onto her face, feeling more refreshed.  
  
Misty stretched and flexed her arms since they were a bit stiff from lying asleep on them. She smiled when she saw Togepi happily nuzzled together with her favorite Tentacruel doll, and didn't appear to wake up at any second.

Muffled kissing sounds could be heard from Brock's bed, and Misty went immediately over to his bed, afraid at what she may see. To her great relief, Brock was alone in bed, but hugging his pillow closely to his chest. He had a big grin on his face, and rolled to the other side of his bed. He muttered a small "Haruka" much to Misty's great disgust, preferring to hear him say 'Officer Jenny' or 'Nurse Joy' instead of that annoying girl.  
  
_And speaking of sleeping beauty_, Misty thought disgustedly and went over to her bed, expecting the great queen to be sleeping. But she wasn't. She was a bit surprised that Haruka wasn't a heavy sleeper like her. Shrugging, she grabbed her red bag and went out the door, careful at closing it softly.  
  
She went to the lobby, half-expecting Haruka there, but to her great satisfaction, she wasn't. Nurse Joy greeted her, and tried to stifle a yawn, but couldn't. _Poor Nurse Joy. Must've stayed up late again_, she thought with some concern.  
  
Misty went outside, enjoying the pleasant morning breeze. A flock of Pidgeys flew by her head, chirping, as if to remind everyone that it was morning. Cool morning dew covered the cut grass, and a light mist was blocking her vision, lazily drifting by Blackthorn City. The mountains stood majestically, with different shades of brown and green. Misty perked up immediately at the sight and wondered why didn't she wake up early more often. It was so relaxing just to walk around, enjoying the beauty that only the morning could bring.  
  
As she walked down the rocky streets of Blackthorn, Misty noticed how quiet the city was. Most cities were buzzing with activity twenty four hours, no matter if it was the earliest or latest hours of the day. But despite that, she was glad that this city brought her so much relaxation - she really needed it. She absently noted a rock seller snoozing on one of his biggest rocks very loudly, and not noticing her presence.  
  
As she got farther away from the center she could see the image of a person and something else amongst the mist - like pearly ghosts. Misty approached slowly, wondering who could they be. Getting even nearer, and hiding behind a rather large rock, she could make out the silhouette of Haruka and Torchic. She just stood there, looking at nothing in particular, but somehow, Misty didn't know how she knew, Haruka could see so much more. The wind made her light brown hair sway, also ruffling her clothes.  
  
Haruka took out something from her pocket, which Misty couldn't see too clearly from her range of vision. After squinting her eyes she could make out what it was.

It was a piece of paper and Haruka unfolded it carefully, almost lovingly. But then, Haruka's expression changed from neutral to a look of pure sorrow. Her hands began to tremble violently, and the piece of paper landed on the grass. Torchic had an equally sad face, even mournful; he placed his head on top of the picture, and sighed woefully.  
  
Haruka's demeanor changed to an enraged one, and her eyes flashed dangerously in just an instant. She had an air of strength and power, that even took Misty off-guard. It was so strong, like a raging fire around her, consuming everything, except her.  
  
She had to rub her eyes, to realize the flames were real.  
  
The flames rose, almost up to Haruka's height. The blazing fire grew in size, and to Misty's great horror, the whole grass that used to be there was gone. The heat of the fire made Misty sweat uncontrollably, making her cower even further behind the rock. Even if she took out her Water Pokemon to ease the fire, it'd be nothing more than a small drop compared to the inferno that was around Haruka. The sky was filled with humongous pillars of smoke, and Misty wanted to cough, but knew if she did, the consequences would be fatal.  
  
_Why? Why isn't anyone coming?_ she thought desperately. _Anybody...just..._ she prayed, trying to ignore the heat, the intensity forty times worse than even hell itself.  
  
The fire was so tall in size, and the smoke was so thick, that Misty was utterly bewildered as to why Haruka wasn't dead by now, but she could still be seen. She stood there, unmoving, full of sadness, looking straight ahead at the flames, as if they weren't there. Haruka lifted her hand, and flicked it, carelessly. The infernal fire, was now as tall as the mountains, but formed into a circle around her.  
  
Her expression changed, she started to frown darkly, then bared her white teeth, and Misty could clearly see a hatred so deep, that made her shudder. Haruka's eyes, usually a bright blue color, turned red as blood. Misty almost shrieked, but covered her mouth in time. Torchic was crying quietly, and his shining tears slid down his master's leg.  
  
Haruka clenched her hands and forming them into fists. She then lifted her head and let out an earsplitting cry that was filled with an uncontainable rage and sorrow.  
  
The scream pierced Misty's ears, and almost screamed herself when the flames covered Haruka completely. All the fire went directly to her, the pure red, hot energy entering her seemingly weak body. Part of the fire was gone, and Misty expected all the grass gone, Haruka's burnt body on it, but to her great disbelief, Haruka still stood there - unharmed and not a hair singed. Haruka's fists were half-way up in the air, but her eyes... they were still red - an eternal fire appeared to inhabit in them. Then she stared at the sky once again as though transfixed by the smoke obscuring it.  
  
People started to come to Misty's relief and fear. A crew of trained firefighters started to take out their hoses and connecting them to fire hydrants. But Misty's fears once again grew when Haruka noticed all the people who were there. No one noticed a girl and her Torchic amongst the roaring flames, no one noticed that it wasn't harming her, no one noticed her red evil eyes full of malice that were directed to them.  
  
And no one noticed the way her hands were forming flaming fireballs.  
  
Misty stood up suddenly, all her previous fear forgotten. She was about to warn them, but it was too late. With a malevolent smile, Haruka shot the fireball at the firefighters who were trying to quench the fire. Misty covered her eyes; she couldn't see what was about to happen. Screams filled the air. Loud, pleading shouts full of pain echoed through the whole town. The smell of burning flesh and death was so intoxicating that it took all of Misty's strength not to retch. The screams began to subside and then...silence. She preferred the screams, because... now she knew. At least when they screamed she knew they were alive, and now...  
  
"God damn it! _Why did you die_?" Haruka screamed and the flames shot up once again, but with more intensity.  
  
Misty was confused. Was this - demon, feeling guilty now? But no, Haruka wasn't staring at the burned ashes, who once were people with families and jobs who died bravely trying to win a losing battle. Haruka was still staring at the picture, Torchic still faithfully by her side, covering his beady eyes on her shoes; the flames still crackling with immense power  
  
But the flames died down as soon as they appeared. Haruka's eyes, were back to their normal blue color, but Misty could still see it. The inferno was still in her eyes, and so was the dark hatred. She saw anger that could cut anyone like a sharp knife, that could be twisted into one's own very soul, and no compassion, at any human or thing that lived, walked, and breathed, on this planet.  
  
The mist had long since cleared, the wind now blowing fiercely around her, with the power of a thousand hurricanes, yet not a single leaf moved.  
  
"I'll have my revenge, I swear I will," Haruka whispered to herself softly, yet Misty heard her even amongst all the noise. Haruka left the once grassy clearing, leaving black footsteps on the ground, that evaporated in a orange smoke when she moved further and further. Her eyes were closed, but somehow she got back to the Pokemon Center without anyone seeing her - except Misty. She was still hiding behind the rough rock, utterly terrified at being found, and hating herself for her cowardice.  
  
Police cars were coming from all directions, sirens blaring in the air while medics were tending people with various burns on their bodies - some of them crying loudly over their dead partners. Witnesses were exclaiming loudly, using their hands to portray the scene that just happened - one witness falling to the ground, acting as if a great force pushed him to the ground.  
  
Misty snapped her head to the direction of the Pokemon Center, a surge of courage coming from seeing dozens of mangled, burnt bodies- she was going to tell everybody who started the fire. In the distance, she could still see Haruka.  
  
With a big smile on her face.  
  
There was uncontrolled laughter from her right and she saw a man giggling madly with several untouched matches and a large red container with the words 'GASOLINE'. All of the witnesses pointed at the man, and two bulky policemen seized him from the arms - and the man still guffawed crazily; a glazed expression on his eyes.  
  
_Wha-what? Bu-but he was one of the firemen!_ she tried to say, but she knew no one would believe her. Even the other firemen were screaming madly at him, some of them actually throwing trash to his face.  
  
And when Misty turned her head back to the Pokemon Center, she saw Haruka leaning her head against the Pokemon Center's doors, smiling...that insane smile of hers...  
  
Misty knew that what she saw this morning would be etched in her mind forever.

****

* * *

"...And Uncle Puss loves to go outside to rest in the sun! Laziest Meowth I have ever gotten, but he's the closest one my age, so we get along splendidly!"  
  
Ash had been asleep with his eyes open for five hours, and he appeared to be dead thanks to his unfocused eyes, but the old lady didn't even notice. She had been rambling on an on about her Meowths, and Ash wondered how she could come up with stories for five hours about Meowths.  
  
"And he accidentally scratched her tail! Almost took out his eyes in return - why, would you look at that! We talked so much about my Meowths that we didn't even notice that we arrived at Pallet! Guess time sure flies by when you're having fun!" she laughed, slapping her knees. Ash snapped out of a dream that he couldn't recall, and rubbed his eyes that were getting very watery. His neck was aching because he had slept against the cockpit's doorframe and he rubbed his temples because he awoke with a nasty headache. Pikachu opened his eyes, but not fully. He went up to Ash's hat and slept once again, too tired to wake up properly.  
  
"Well we better land this thing right away, shall we?"  
  
The plane went to an abrupt nose-dive, throwing Ash and Pikachu crashing on the chair she was sitting on. Ash's eyes grew bigger in size, clutching the back of the old lady's chair, as the ground dangerously came closer, the once bug-sized trees and houses growing alarmingly in size. Pikachu, now wide awake, was on top the old lady's head clutching her hair for dear life. She didn't take any notice of her two passengers, who were both about to pass out on the spot.  
  
Ash also covered his eyes, he didn't want to see his own death. He wondered if he was going to feel any pain, or die instantly upon impact. Just when he was pondering how the afterlife was like, he began to stumble backwards, Pikachu alongside him and they both crashed on top of the boxes at the other side of the plane. They both groaned, and started to cough when a horrible smell invaded their noses. They covered their noses, in a vain attempt to stop the smell.  
  
"Flight Number 234 now on Pallet Town. I hope you had a comfortable and enjoyable journey!" the old lady said in her sweetest voice.  
  
Ash almost laughed out loud. _Yeah, veeeery comfortable and enjoyable..._ And to signify his thought, a large Magikarp fell from a box, and landed hard on top of Ash's head with a disgusting squish.  
  
"Mmmm-mm! All these great Magikarps to those rascals! The finest Magikarps, freshly caught from the Dragon's Den. Well...I didn't catch them that recently, but one week is considered fresh, right?"  
  
Ash didn't say anything, but threw the dead Magikarp as far as he could. He wiped his hands to get rid of the smell and some of the Magikarp muck. He was just grateful that he didn't live with the old lady. _Just imagine the smell..._ he thought with with a shudder_.  
_  
"Well, what are you waitin' for? Let's go outside!" she said, pushing Ash roughly out the door, momentarily forgetting the ladder. Ash was falling down, but to his great relief, he landed on a pile of soft grass, Pikachu landing gracefully on top of his head.  
  
"Ah, there's nothing like Pallet Town!" the old lady cackled heartily. "Well I'll be on my way! Don't want to leave Shashooka waiting!" she said happily as she strolled down merrily, away from the plane.  
  
"Wait!" Ash called. The old lady turned around and shot him a questioning look.

"Can you bring me back later? I really need to get back to Blackthorn before nighttime tomorrow..." He crossed his fingers, hoping the crazy old lady would accept.  
  
She scratched her chin, deep in thought. "Well...I suppose you can! But you have to be here tomorrow at seven 'o clock in the morning! Not a minute sooner or later. See ya!" And she walked down a road, heading towards the rocky valleys that were far away.  
  
Ash sighed happily once he fully saw his hometown before his eyes; Pikachu sharing his happiness. He was finally back home. Pallet Town was in the same way he remembered; it didn't change a bit since the last time he had seen it. Lots of grassy fields that stretched as far as the eye could see, few houses that aligned the old worn out paths; rocky valleys and mountains could be seen far away and gave Pallet Town a sort of magical touch. Some people thought about Pallet Town as the most undeveloped city in the whole Kanto region, but Ash simply ignored them. He knew it was much more than that.  
  
He went down a particular street, remembering exactly where he lived. He needed to turn left from Cobblegorld Road, then turn right to a rocky street across from a river, and when he saw a patch of green-yellowish valley to the northeast, he would just have to cross it.  
  
Ash hurried up, wanting to get home as soon as possible. In no time at all he saw the large valley, and began to run faster seeing his home at the distance, Pikachu clinging on to his hat desperately so he wouldn't fall. He was beginning to pant, and leaned against a fence to catch his breath. He looked up and he saw, with some surprise, that he was leaning against his own fence. Almost out of instinct he checked his mom's garden and saw her perfect tomatoes gleaming in the sunlight - not one dark spot in their smooth red surface. His home was exactly the same as he had last seen it; clean sliding doors, white wooden walls, perfect garden - yup, exactly the same.  
  
He ran to the door, excited to see his grandparents after so many years. He was about to ring the doorbell, when the door flew open, almost breaking the door hinges in two.  
  
"ASH!" Three happy-faced people grinned madly before enveloping in a bone-crushing hug. Ash was smothered in loving kisses, and only when he was almost out of oxygen, was he able to escape their crushing grip.  
  
"Oh, Ash, Grandpa and I have been waiting here since midnight to see you arrive - well your grandpa actually slept throughout most of the night, but you know how he is..." his grandma said in a dismissing voice. His grandpa rolled his eyes while he muttered something incomprehensible.  
  
Grandma surveyed him up and down and then tutted disapprovingly. "Delia, the poor boy is just skin and bones! I hope you have sent enough food to the poor boy in this reckless journey - oh and another thing-"  
  
"Carmen, stop fussing. Ash is fine, aren't you son?" grandpa sent a pleading glance towards Ash's direction, when his grandmother wasn't looking. Delia glared at her, crossed her arms but said nothing.  
  
"Uh...I guess so..." Ash mumbled, not wanting to anger his grandmother.  
  
"Hmph! Don't you worry dear, I'll give you all the food you can eat so you can fill up your tummy wummy!" Grandma cooed. She gave Delia a nasty glare before going to the kitchen with a huff.  
  
Delia was grumbling under her breath, while Ash's granddad just shook his head - apparently he was used to this.

She purposefully went over to Ash and planted a firm kiss on his cheek. "I've missed you so much, honey," she said sweetly in a very unnatural, high-pitched voice.  
  
"And please sleep as long as you like dear, you look simply exhausted! Can't you see how exhausted he is, Delia?" came his grandma's voice from the kitchen.  
  
Ash ran up the stairs to his room; he didn't want to see his mother and grandma fighting right now. Pikachu was sleeping on his shoulder, unaware that he just arrived at his master's home. Ash looked at the door, it still seemed the same; his old, half-peeled Pokemon stickers of one hundred fifty species - he made a mental note to add about two hundred more.  
  
His room almost appeared the same...except that it was clean. His favorite Pokemon figurines still covered half his desk - they used to be ordered by number, type and name. Now they were all mixed up and with a sigh, decided to organize them later. As he silently took out his socks and shoes, he saw his unique Pokemon Poster he got along with the special Pokemon League hat. Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur posed dramatically against an orange background. A pang of sadness hit Ash and the longing to see his old friends resurfaced.  
  
He tossed his jacket aside and laid his Pokemon League hat carefully on his night table. He slid under the warm, lightning bolt-shaped covers and grinned; he could almost smell the delicious meal that awaited him when he would wake. He closed his eyes and entered the land of the sleeping, unaware of the terrible events that would come to his life.

****

* * *

Misty hesitantly touched the handle; what exactly would await her inside? Would Haruka just kill her instantly? Besides, Misty was the only one who knew that Haruka was the real person responsible of the accident - and Haruka burned more than ten people to their deaths. What did it matter to Haruka if she killed one more?  
  
But Misty felt as if cold water had just poured down to her spine. Brock, Nurse Joy and everybody staying at the Pokemon Center were inside! What if they were injured - or worse...  
  
She took out Poliwhirl from inside her bag; careful at not touching Psyduck's PokeBall, since even the smallest of movements would make him pop out unexpectedly.  
  
Poliwhirl appeared in a flash and stood in a fighting stance. When he saw there was no opponent, Poliwhirl turned to Misty, puzzled.  
  
Misty crouched to Poiliwhirl's eye level and whispered. "Poliwhirl, there's this girl who burned all of that..." She pointed to the once green meadow, now swarmed with people, "...and now she's inside the Pokemon Center - I don't know if she attacked anybody yet, but we have to be ready for anything, right Poliwhirl?"  
  
Poliwhirl gave a determined nod; Misty nodded back in gratitude.  
  
"Ok Poliwhirl, on the count of three we barge in, help any injured Pokemon, and attack a girl with brown hair with a red bandanna - Got that?" Poliwhirl nodded. Misty took a deep breath.  
  
"One."  
  
"Two."  
  
"THREE!"  
  
Misty and Poliwhirl pushed the door with all their might and entered.  
  
"Don't worry everybody! We're here!" Misty shouted courageously and didn't expect the scene before her eyes -  
  
Brock and Haruka were sitting on a table and they were eating buttered toast and drinking orange juice. They were chatting happily, and Haruka was adding jam to Brock's toast. Nurse Joy was handing a set of keys to a little boy. No blood. No violence. And Poliwhirl was just about to spray water to everybody.  
  
Crap.  
  
Before Misty could stop him, Poliwhirl shot the strongest Water Gun attack at everybody, soaking them to their very bones. Brock and Haruka yelled; the little boy fell to the floor hard and began to cry; Nurse Joy's hair became a soppy mess and her Pokemon Center hat was drenched. To wrap it all up, Chansey tripped over the little boy and her egg went flying from her pouch and crashed into a big yolky pile; Chansey crying uncontrollably along with the little boy. If looks could kill Misty would've been dead by now.  
  
"Umm...oops?"  
  
Brock was the first to speak, helping Haruka to her feet. "Oops...OOPS? Misty we were worried sick about you because of the fire, and then you show up and spray water like a lunatic without a purpose! What the hell were you _thinking_?" Brock shouted, wiping water from his eyes. Misty hadn't seen Brock this mad in a very long time.  
  
"We-well you see Brock...I saw how the fire started, and I KNOW who the real culprit is." Misty scowled deeply in Haruka's direction; she didn't seem to notice. "It's-it's Haruka! I saw how she burned the whole field! She stared at a little paper, got angry, an-and flames erupted from her body...and-and shot a fireball, from her HAND at some people and..." Misty couldn't believe how incredibly stupid her explanation sounded.  
  
Brock's mouth hung open for a second before laughing loudly. "Tha-that's..." he laughed so hard he had to clutch his stomach, "...the worst excuse I've ever heard from you - no scratch that. The worst excuse that I ever heard from anybody!" And he continued to laugh, tears forming at the edge of his eye. Chansey was still clutching the last remains of her egg, shooting occasional deathly glances at Poliwhirl who was still very confused as to why everybody was so mad at him.  
  
Misty was annoyed to say the least. "You don't believe me? Brock, snap out of your girl trance! Haruka is in fact the real culprit behind the fire. Brock who would you believe in - a girl you just met for less than twenty-four hours, or a friend who traveled alongside you for six years? Well?" she asked impatiently.  
  
Brock stopped laughing and stared at her seriously. "I believe this," he said seriously and handed her a newspaper. She grabbed it impatiently from his hands and unfolded it.  
  
**The Blackthorn Post**  
  
**Fire Kills 12 People and Leaves 20 injured! Culprit Caught!  
**_At 7:15 in the morning, no one suspected that the quiet city of Blackthorn would be covered in an immense fire that stretched over more than 100 meters of land. The humongous flames that reached over 50 meters in altitude, killed 12 people and left over 20 injured. The culprit of this tragedy, named Mark Stevens, was caught with a gasoline container and a box of matches. Police arrived at 8:20 and arrested this mentally unstable criminal. More Information on pages A16-18_  
  
A large picture covered half the front page of the fireman she saw earlier, with the fire as the background. His eyes were rolled back and he still had a large grin on his face. Misty sat there; mouth agape and she stared at Brock.  
  
"This is bullshit!" she said and she threw the paper to the floor to emphasize her point. "I know what I saw out there Brock! I know! Haruka did it, I can swear it on anything!" she said hysterically; Haruka was sipping the rest of her orange juice quietly, not making any eye contact with Misty.  
  
Brock shook his head sympathetically. "Misty, Haruka was here since I woke up and never left the Pokemon Center - didn't she Nurse Joy?" he asked.  
  
"Of course she never left; I would've seen! This nasty girly should stop telling lies and attacking innocent people. You should be ashamed of yourself young lady!" she yelled disapprovingly, helping a weeping Chansey to her feet; the little boy ran out - still crying.  
  
"I-I...but...ok..." Misty sighed dejectedly. No one would ever believe her.  
  
Brock handed Misty one of the bronze keys. "Here. Take a shower, change and then come back here and eat. You've seen something truly horrible and traumatic, you don't know what you're saying..." Misty opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand, "...You'll feel better after you eat and then you can apologize to Haruka after you think it over." Misty opened her mouth in exasperation and sighed. Mumbling a thanks, she went to their room.  
  
The window was open and a healthy breezed washed over the room. The beds were made and their bags were on their respective beds. Togepi was inside his shell still sleeping with the Tentacruel doll. Torchic slept on her master's bed, unknowing of Misty's presence, and alongside him was Haruka's bag.  
  
Haruka's bag!  
  
There were more important things than showering and changing. She had to know why Haruka acted this way and why she could control fire at her will. Misty had to know. She loomed carefully over Torchic's sleeping form; careful at not waking it up. She zipped the backpack open and peered inside. There was another set of clothing, a brush, a map -  
  
"TORCHIC!"  
  
Torchic was eyeing her menacingly and flapping his small orange wings. It was amazing how such a cute Pokemon that resembled an orange canary could resemble a dangerous eagle with a wing span of fifteen meters in just a second.  
  
"I-I wasn't doing an-anything! I'm leaving! Just d-don't flap your wings like that," she said in a very small voice. She flopped to her bed, and dared to take a peek at Torchic. He was hissing like an angry goose and plopped protectively over Haruka's bag.  
  
At least it was worth a shot.

****

* * *

Ash awoke to the delicious smell of waffles. It was his favorite form of waking up, and he hadn't eaten a waffle for such a long time he almost forgot the taste of them. He jumped out of bed and wildly searched for his jacket, which hung crookedly on his chair. He took a quick glance in his PokeBall-shaped clock; it was 10:39 AM. He slipped on some socks and ran down the stairs hurriedly, anxious to get to the waffles as soon as he could.  
  
He leaped the last three steps and took in one of the greatest sights he would ever see in his life.  
  
On a large plate were stacked about thirty waffles, and besides it was another equally high pile of toasts. But that wasn't the greatest thing of all. Blueberry, cherry, apple, lemon, and strawberry pies were organized neatly in a line - Ash could exactly recognize each one by its smell. Grandma was smiling brightly, and her smile widened even more when he came in. Pikachu was eating rapidly each waffle; over-squeezing the syrup bottle on his stack of waffles. 

In sharp contrast to both Pikachu and Grandma, Grandpa was reading the newspaper looking very grim. Delia was looking sulky, giving resentful glances at grandma; buttering her toast very slowly.  
  
"Oh there's my Ashy! Come here and have a seat. A growing boy needs his vitamins!" Grandma chirped happily and handed him four already-syruped waffles with a slice of apple pie.  
  
"Thanks grandma!" Ash said happily, and he chewed his waffle, with a goofy grin on his face.  
  
"So how did my little boy sleep? If you're still tired you can go back to bed, dear," Grandma stated with a smile. In reality Ash was still tired - rundown airplanes didn't make good sleeping places and he slept on his bed for barely five hours or so - but he wanted to see what was on the newspaper; his grandpa was looking very serious.  
  
"Nah, no thanks grandma," Ash said politely. He went to his Grandpa and tried to look at what he was reading. He noticed his presence and with a big sigh, he handed Ash the newspaper.  
  
All color drained from Ash's face by just looking at the headline. He read the rest of the article and threw the newspaper down at the table. He grabbed Pikachu who had a worried expression on his face.  
  
"I have to go," Ash said simply, running out of the kitchen.  
  
"What? Ash you just got here!" Delia said. She read the newspaper quickly before heading to the direction of her son.  
  
"Mom, I have to go. My friends are in Blackthorn right now, and I don't know how they are!" he said in an alarmed voice. He was halfway up the stairs; wanting to get his backpack, when Gandma stopped him.  
  
When he stopped, she hesitated for a moment and seemed to ask him the first thing that was on her mind. "Ash can you bring the old family album? I'd like to see it again, please," and she gave him her best, sweet, old granny smile.  
  
Ash looked at her exasperatedly but said nothing. The sooner he gave her that photo album, the sooner he could find that old lady pilot, so he could return to Blackthorn and see if his friends were all right. They had to be. He didn't know how he'd react if something happened to either of them.  
  
Ash entered his mom's room; it had a cozy appearance with its soft yellow walls, the furry beige carpet, and the porcelain figurines on her night table. He entered her closet; it was fairly dark and he was surprised that the corners were covered in cobwebs - it seemed that Mr. Mime never entered here to clean up.  
  
Ash remembered where the old family album was - third drawer to the left. He opened it and there it was, its covers were dusty and the edges were bent. He was just about to leave and shut the drawer when he noticed one of the photographs crumbled up and it was hidden behind some other photographs of himself when he was a baby.  
  
He picked it up curiously and opened it.  
  
A four-year-old Ash smiled timidly at him, holding the hand of a man Ash had never seen. The man wore a black suit, with a neat red tie, and highly polished shoes. He had a small mustache and very slicked, black hair that was parted in the middle. The man was smiling at the camera and with his other unoccupied hand the man waved.  
  
Ash was perplexed. Who was he? His mom usually told him every person in every photo, and he really meant each one. She usually rambled about every person, telling him exactly every detail of the person she was speaking about. She certainly never spoke about this man - and why was the photo in such a state in the first place?  
  
He picked his Pokemon League cap, his backpack, and his shoes from his room and went down the stairs.  
  
"Oh there you are sweetie, now would you mind handing grandma the album? You know how sentimental she is over pictures," his mother said with a small smile.  
  
"Sure..." he handed the photo album to his grandmother, "...but can you tell me who he is? You never mentioned him before."  
  
Delia - utterly confused, looked at the photo her son gave her. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and she dropped the photo as soon as she got it; she was trembling slightly, and grandma picked the photo up and let out a shrill shriek. Grandpa - surprised at his wife and daughter's reaction picked it up. He shook his head sadly and gave a meaningful glance at Delia, before rubbing his temples and sitting down on the couch.  
  
"What's wrong with all of you? Why did you scream like that? Who is he? How did that man know me? Why are you so scared of a dumb photo?" Ash hollered each question. Nobody answered.  
  
His mom was the first one to break the uncomfortable silence. "Ash...I think it's best if you leave."  
  
"Delia's right, dear. You don't want to miss that plane of yours, now," his grandma continued, without looking at him.  
  
Ash couldn't believe his ears. His mother always insisted that he stayed longer and his granny was even worse; but both of them were urging him to go.  
  
He was so stunned he agreed, nodding slowly. Grandma entered the kitchen and returned with a big blueberry pie covered in plastic.  
  
"Here you go. For the trip..." and her eyes told him to leave right now.  
  
"Yes - well...bye, I guess..." he mumbled awkwardly. He left with Pikachu on his shoulder and gave them a hurt expression before closing the door.  
  
When all three of them were sure that Ash was not eavesdropping, the old couple started to argue loudly.  
  
"You should've told the boy by now! He needs to know!"  
  
"Antonio, the truth would terrify him! How could we do that to poor Ash?"  
  
"The boy is not a baby anymore, Carmen. He has a right to know!"  
  
"He's happy! How could we take a little boy's happiness just like that?"  
  
"Ash is sixteen, for God's sake, Carmen. It isn't fair to him to deprive him of what he has every right to know!"  
  
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him!"  
  
"Mom, dad, stop arguing. I won't tell him."  
  
Delia was looking at her feet and she seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Ash w-will never know..." her father was just about to argue further but she gave him a stare that closed his mouth, "...he'd never forgive me if I told him the whole truth. And I-I don't...know what I-I'd do if -" Delia couldn't continue because of her heart-wrenching sobs. She rested her head on her mother's shoulder, and she patted her daughter's head gently.  
  
Her crying subsided after a while before giving a look of anger at the photo. "Mr. Mime could you please come here? I need you to do something for me." Mr. Mime was cleaning the glass ornaments in the living room, and ran to her master eagerly when he heard her.  
  
"Mime?"  
  
"Please light the fire for me."  
  
"Delia...please be reasonable- "  
  
"DAD! I'm tired of being scared - I don't want anything that has to do with him in my house."  
  
She grabbed the photo and ripped it, until only tiny pieces remained. She tossed all the shredded remains on the fire that Mr. Mime had set up in the fireplace; Mr. Mime trembled at the expression on his master's face.  
  
The three of them sat in front of the fire, staring at the burning remains of the photo; not saying a word.  
  
Delia stared at the remains with a look of hatred in her eyes, while she repeated these words over and over in her head.  
  
_What he doesn't know won't hurt him... What he doesn't know won't hurt him..._

**_

* * *

_**  
I enjoyed writing this chapter much more than the other one. Hope you liked this one. Please review. :) 


	3. Plans

Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter took a lonnnnng time to get out, but I didn't have Internet for 3 consecutive months and I also got grounded for two weeks (ehehe)...Also this fanfic will become darker and darker as it continues (if you think these last two chapters are dark, just you wait...But don't worry, there will be no grimy, just-for-the-heck-of-it, drama) and the swear words will start since now. Enjoy! *innocent grin* Oh and I added time for each character-perspective change. It used to be out of order, but I decided to organize it.   
  
Important Note: I know Poliwhirl evolves to Politoad by making him grab a King's Rock and trading it with another person. But I've seen the episode Poliwhirl evolves after I wrote the second chapter so in this chapter he'll evolve normally with NO King's Rock or anything like that. Hope it doesn't bother you guys too much.  
  
Disclaimer: Wish Pokemon would belong to me. But it doesn't.  
  
Plans  
  
4:57 PM   
  
Misty tiptoed out of the Pokemon Center; she didn't want anyone to follow. After everyone in the Pokemon Center laughed at her for ranting about how Haruka started the fire, Brock made her rest in their room and placed a trollish looking kind of Electabuzz to guard her from outside the door. Misty couldn't believe Brock had done this to her and complained for a long while from inside, but Brock insisted on her resting. He said that she was still delirious from the inhalation of too much smoke. Misty usually never minded Brock's motherly role over her and Ash, it meant excellently cooked, free food...but this was taking it a bit too far.  
  
Misty was luckily able to escape with the help of Staryu, duct tape and...a rubber ducky. She had ordered Staryu to attack from behind the Electabuzz when it was busy patrolling the corridors. When it had felt the attack, it turned around with a very confused look on its face. Misty quickly threw the rubber duck that once belonged to Togepi as far as she could. The Electabuzz dumbly went to the direction where the rubber ducky was, which had made a high-pitched squeak when it landed on the floor. Elactabuzz had picked it up and pressed it between its thick fingers; he had enjoyed the sound the plastic little duck made.   
  
While Electabuzz was occupied, Misty had sneaked behind it and used her mallet to knock it out.  
  
With less force than when she used her mallet on her two friends, of course. No Pokemon deserved that.  
  
When Electabuzz was knocked out, she quickly took out the duct tape that was in her pocket and wrapped its hands firmly. She dragged Electabuzz's heavy body to a nearby broom closet. She felt a bit guilty after she shut the door; but the thought that it could easily get out when it awoke made her feel better.   
  
Now, she closed the door softly and ran to the black meadow that she was in earlier, always glancing over her shoulder frequently. Some police men were still in the meadow looking for clues. Misty got behind the large boulder she hid hours before; she couldn't search for herself if they were in the area. Misty wanted to look for clues that were very different from the ones the police was searching. Two policemen caught her attention; they were skinny looking men who were talking loud enough for Misty to hear.  
  
"There's nothin' 'ere Bruce...No damn sign that shows that that nutter lit up the 'ole field. This place 'ere should smell 'eavily of gasoline, or whatnot but I don' smell nuthin' like that - oh it smells a'ful all right...but nuthin' else..." said one of the policemen scratching his dark blonde head in confusion.  
  
"Yeah...I know what you mean Nell...but Jenny is still insisting on searching this clearing..." the other policemen said, swiping his sweaty black hair from his eyes. "In all my years as being a policeman, I've never seen such a stumping case...Whole field burnt to the ground except that little spot over there in the middle." He pointed to a tiny green space where most of the police officers were. "And when did that lunatic have time to spray gasoline in this whole field? Someone should have seen him, but no witness saw him before the fire started, only after the fire was blazing...All of the witnesses are completely sure that he did it...But to tell you the truth I'm not too sure. It might've been my imagination, but - the witnesses seemed to have a glazed expression on their eyes..." he finished, still swiping his black hair from his eyes.  
  
"It is strange and all, but come 'n Bruce! Glazed expreshionn? Nah...Heat was affectin' you there o' course. And you don' seem better off now it seems. Come 'ere you need a break and maybe a drink or two, after all - we 'ave been 'ere for hours." Nell put Bruce's arm around his neck, and helped him to walk over to the edge of the clearing. Bruce was apparently too tired to complain.  
  
Misty saw this as her chance and began to ran along and hide behind several rocks that were big enough to cover her completely. The policemen that were still in that area didn't spot Misty darting from rock to rock. She was trying to edge closer to the only patch of green grass in the whole clearing, but unfortunately most of the police officers she was trying to avoid were huddled there.   
  
She was waiting hopefully that they would search another area. Really, they weren't doing anything else besides poking the ground and placing several surviving grass blades in transparent bags with a big 'EVIDENCE A' marked on it.  
  
Misty remained as quiet as she could possibly be, but her patience was running low after several minutes. She had the urge to run at them and do *something*, she was getting very bored watching them do practically nothing.  
  
Perhaps it was that she thought she saw all of the policemen huddled there. Or perhaps it was that she thought she was relatively well hidden behind her rock. Or maybe it was Misty's sheer boredom at staying still, meaning, without precaution. But she knew at that moment - when both her arms were roughly shoved behind her back and she was forcefully thrown to the ground with a crash that hurt her chin and shoulders and took out all the air in Misty's lungs - that she'd been foolish at letting her guard down.  
  
She angrily turned her head around to look at her attacker, who was sitting on her legs to prevent her from running. A police officer stared stonily back with a piercing gray hawk gaze. He had cropped gray hair and his face features seemed as if someone used a hammer and a chisel to construct his face.   
  
When both of their eyes met, the policeman made her stand up, never breaking eye contact and the tight hold of both of her arms.  
  
"Let me go." Misty hissed through clenched teeth, wanting to kick this man in the shins. But she knew it would be a bad idea to do that.  
  
"Girl. What are you doing in this clearing? It is strictly prohibited for any civilian, man or woman, to cross. This place is for police officers, such as myself, to investigate closely! You may have moved and/or removed clues with or without your knowledge, which can or will disturb our whole police force into solving the crime that occurred today at 7 hours, 15 minutes and 55 seconds in the morning! Now I need to call your parents and/or your guardians to place better discipline upon you, and I hope that your conduct improves or you will be facing the law! Am I making myself clear?" the officer said in a harsh voice, but despite his tone and his warning, it only made Misty roll her eyes.  
  
"Yes sir," she said gloomily and started to walk. One of the police officers that was taking grass examples turned her head their way; as soon as she stared them she clapped both her hands to her mouth and started running towards them.  
  
"John, what are you doing?" the woman asked, and gave Misty an apologetic glance.  
  
"Police officer Marsha! This girl intruded in this police-only area for unknown reasons. As you must know police officer Marsha, in book five of 'Laws of the Johto Region' it says precisely in chapter 27, passage 12, line 42 : 'No civilian and/or Pokemon can pass through an area were there was previously an act against the law'. This girl has broken this law, but no severe action can be made thanks to her underage status. But, her parents and/or guardians will be phoned and hopefully question her discipline. This is for her own good, the good of Blackthorn, and most importantly - the good of Johto!" he finished in a booming voice.  
  
Misty dared to sneak a glance at the police woman, which to her surprise, was attempting to avoid rolling her eyes; she crossed her arms across her chest and sighed in exasperation.   
  
"I'll just take it from here, shall I?" she said in a tone that meant not to argue with her. She grabbed Misty's shoulder but not as hard as the other grouchy policeman.   
  
Misty could still hear the other policeman reciting paragraph after paragraph of rules of every law book he could think about; but the woman who was steering Misty, placed a hand over her ear in a vain attempt to block out his ramblings.  
  
When they were at the very edge of the clearing and thankfully couldn't hear the policeman, the woman turned around to face Misty.  
  
"Miss, even though Officer John might be a tad extreme with rules, he was quite right about the poor conduct you have shown by crossing the security line," she said in a strict tone of voice, but Misty could've sworn that her lips turned up slightly.  
  
"Yes officer," she said, faking gloominess into her voice. Misty knew perfectly well that this policewoman wasn't going to take charges, but Misty wasn't going to take any chances.   
  
"Well...I'm afraid I have to call your parents. Should've thought better than crossing the line," the policewoman said with a slight apologetic tinge in her statement.  
  
"But I -" Misty interrupted herself before she could argue. The police cop obviously would have to bring Misty along to headquarters were they would call her sisters; and as far as Misty knew, they would probably forget this little incident after 10 minutes. But that wasn't why Misty wanted to go to police headquarters - the man who somehow was framed by Haruka and led to believe that he had burnt the whole field and killed 12 people - was also there. A plan was starting to hatch in Misty's head; she'll have to somehow interrogate Mark Stevens by evading the policewoman who wanted to call her sisters. Or let her call her sisters and then try to find Mark. It wasn't going to be easy - not at all - but Misty wasn't one of those kinds of people who let things go and not do something about it. She wasn't going to let him rot in a little, moldy cell while Haruka was probably eating a hearty lunch. Misty would prefer to be damned than letting that injustice carry out.  
  
"Yes officer," Misty repeated again, glad that the police cop couldn't see what she was thinking about.  
  
The policewoman cocked one of her eyebrows upward in suspicion but didn't say anything else. They both reached her police car and Misty tried to look as resentful and angry when she got in; she couldn't afford to look eager to enter the car.  
  
Police officer Marsha didn't notice a thing.  
  
***  
  
5:25 P.M  
  
Ash was deeply hurt. Not in a physical way, no. But in a pure emotional way that hurt even more than all of Ash's falls, scratches, bites, fries, cuts, bashes, slaps, and electrocutions that he ever received in his whole entire life.   
  
And that was very, very, very painful indeed.  
  
He didn't know what hurt him most: If it was that they were obviously hiding a very big secret and wouldn't tell him for some reason, or the way they wanted him out of the house - like some poor, flea-covered Growlithe that their owners didn't want anymore.   
  
He clamped his teeth together and curled his hands into fists until his nails were digging deeply into his palms - and this somehow made him feel better. Ash wasn't used to this kind of pain; it was so different than when he suffered all those accidents (and incidents) in his journey. He'd grit his teeth and bear the pain with his head high and continue on, overcoming all further obstacles that were in his way.  
  
But what was he supposed to do now?  
  
He had no clue how to carry this injury that was currently planted in his heart. Did he have to go back now and order everyone for answers until they gave him? Ask everyone to apologize to him? No, that wouldn't work, it would only make matters worse than they were and it would leave him to hurt more. The only kinds of injuries that could barely reach this (and he would consider less than barely) might be some of the fights he had with Misty. Oh, they fought a lot and he almost always let her insults carry on with the wind, but those remarks that did get to him would make him angry at her for a couple of hours until both of them would cool off and forget it.   
  
No apologies, they never reached that point. Ever.   
  
So here he was - dejectedly walking to the Pallet mountain range, where he was currently searching for the crazy old woman who brought him here. He hoped that the old lady hadn't gone too far in the Pallet Mountains or else he'd had to search for her for days or even weeks.  
  
Pikachu tried with all his efforts to try and cheer him up, but Ash rudely pushed away the comforting paw that Pikachu placed bracingly on his cheek; Pikachu then settled down on top of Ash's hat with a sigh, ears drooping in defeat.  
  
Ash felt slightly ashamed at the way he treated Pikachu's attempts at cheering him up but at that moment he only wanted to find the old lady and get back to Blackthorn.  
  
After what seemed like hours (though he wasn't so sure it was that long), Ash finally saw the grand mountains of Pallet. Many people would prefer other more majestic-looking mountains and valleys than those found in Pallet - but Ash would object on that - used to slide down these lands with a wooden board he made himself a couple of years before he left on his Pokemon journey. As he looked back on these memories, Ash thought how much he loved Pallet Town and didn't care what ill other people spoke of his hometown.   
  
More fond memories of his upbringing in Pallet carried Ash and Pikachu to the very edge of the Pallet Mountains where they were just beginning. Ash was just a tiny little Caterpie compared to the full height the mountains rose, but Ash still remembered the old paths he used to take up towards the mountain trails and that made him feel a little taller.  
  
He chose to take one path that led to a partly hidden lake that many did not know about because a boulder hid the entrance that lead to it. He found that semi-secret passage at the age of 9 by the help of a Cubone he had befriended by offering some Pokemon grub that he had carried in his pocket at that time.  
  
Ash was soon reaching the familiar boulder that still hasn't been moved by anyone else in years. He called out Bayleef from her PokeBall and she appeared with a flash, smiling the same warm smile she showed when Ash was near her.  
  
"Could you please move this rock, Bay?" Ash asked her with one of his winsome smiles.   
  
Bayleef nodded eagerly and wrapped her long vines around the large boulder. Grunting with effort, she managed to push the rock with enough room for passage. Bayleef composed herself, not wanting to let Ash now that moving that rock took effort.  
  
Ash just smiled secretly at this cover. "Good work Bayleef. Return."  
  
With Bayleef safely confined in her PokeBall, Ash ventured forth into the musty cave. It was pitch dark and a smell of damp fungus - unfortunately - filled his nose. Ash knew the cave wasn't very long and he was grateful for that because he couldn't stop sneezing thanks to all the Spinarak webs in the way. After a few minutes he was able to see bright sunlight, so he stepped out gladly out of the tunnel and was faced by sunshine.   
  
It was just as wonderful as it had been 7 years ago. The peaceful blue surface of the lake still seemed to be pure and untouched by humans; the trees that looked like giants when he was smaller were still as majestic as ever - Ledians often found their nests here and decorated the trees like Christmas decorations with the glowing, red spots on their backs. The caverns that scared him when he was young were farther away than the prairies and the enormous lake. That would be Ash's first place were he would search; Meowths and Persians were abundant in dark places. If he couldn't find her in this place, he would need desperate measures to get back to Blackthorn. The Pallet Mountains would take months and months to walk and even more to search for such a small lady who was, unfortunately, a crazy pilot and would like to explore a lot.  
  
Ash began to jog over there; curious Pokemon came out of their burrows and nests to stare at one of the few humans they've seen in their lives. Others cowered away from Ash - strange things usually lead to trouble. Pikachu was trying to chat away with them but they just gave him the cold shoulder and nasty glares. Pikachu climbed back to Ash's head with a depresses 'Pika'.  
  
After Ash finally arrived on the nearest cavern, he took out his lantern from his backpack and flicked it on. It was far scarier than the dingy little tunnel he just came through. This cavern was more than enormous - the flashlight's beam wasn't helping much. Ash got further and further away from the bright light that was outside and he was becoming more and more unsettled. Ash had found millions of small Pokemon bones littered all over the cavern and that had not appeased his cold dread.   
  
Pikachu's ears pricked up and he started telling Ash something.   
  
"Pikapi! Pika Pikachu Pika kachu ka!"  
  
"Something up ahead? Ok then, Pikachu...be prepared for everything," Ash whispered fearfully.  
  
They slowly turned the corner. Only darkness greeted them.  
  
"Guess there's noth-"   
  
"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
They both froze with their hair standing on the end.  
  
"Pi-pikachu? What...what was that?" Ash mumbled in alarm. There couldn't possibly be a monster here, could it?  
  
Pikachu didn't respond. He was hidden under Ash's cap trembling violently, making Ash quiver in return.  
  
Ash gulped. "We-well...we won't know what was that unless we check it out...right?"  
  
Pikachu, who was still under his cap gripped Ash's hair very hard in respond.  
  
"HEY! Ow! Pikachu don't do that!" Ash said loudly. Very loudly.  
  
"KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Ash grabbed his cap - Pikachu and all - and started hugging him fiercely.  
  
"O-o-o-ok! Maybe that wa-wasn't one of my mo-most brilliant ideas..."  
  
"Pi-pikachu!" came out Pikachu's muffled reply. But his ears perked up again from under his hat.  
  
"PIKAPI! Pikachu pika ka kachu Pika! KAPIKA!" Pikachu screamed.  
  
"Wha-what do-do y-you m-mean y-you hear footsteps?" Ash said with a very noticeable hint of horror in his voice.  
  
And Pikachu was right.  
  
Drip...Drip...Drip...  
  
The sound of footsteps on wet floor.  
  
Drip. Drip.  
  
It was heading towards them! Pikachu was clutching Ash's jacket very tightly as a gesture of pure fear.  
  
Drip. Drip.  
  
It was getting louder! Ash hurriedly searched for the flashlight he had dropped earlier. He found it. But the batteries didn't work anymore.  
  
Drip. Drip.  
  
"We ha-have to fi-fight it Pika-pikachu. No use letting it get us hu-huddled in a co-corner." Ash said quietly. Pikachu almost sobbed when he heard this.  
  
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.  
  
"Pikachu if we die fighting I want to let you know that you're the greatest pal I had!" Ash said trying to hide the tremor in his tone. Pikachu smiled a little but he didn't let go of Ash's leg.  
  
Drip-Drip. Drip-Drip. Drip-Drip. Drip-Drip.  
  
It was running towards them! Pikachu let go of Ash's leg and tried to appear brave. He failed.  
  
Drip-Drip. Drip-Drip. Drip-Drip. Drip- Drip. Drip-Drip. Drip-Drip. Drip-Drip.   
  
Ash and Pikachu were both tense. Ash grabbed one of his PokeBalls from his belt, in case Pikachu couldn't handle the thing alone.  
  
Drip.  
  
That's when the monstrous creature appeared to them.  
  
"Well if it ain't the young rascal!"  
  
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP!!!  
  
The old lady was fried from her rough military boots to her grizzled, cabbage-smelling hair. The Persian alongside her didn't look in a better state. Pikachu, utterly relieved to see the old woman smiled apologetically with one of his paws behind his head in embarrassment.   
  
"Oh Shashooka! Are you ok, my wuvely widdle furball?" the old lady cooed. Her gaze turned icy when she stared at Pikachu.   
  
"Shashooka? Are you telling me that you're long-lost Meowth evolved into a Persian, screeched like hell had frozen over and scared the living daylights out of us because we thought it was a bloodsucking beast trying to get us?!" Ash yelled exasperatedly.  
  
"Oh don't listen to them, my cute pussy cat! They are vewwwwwwwy mean people." And the old lady placed both of her gnarled hands on either side of its ears. Ash felt so annoyed that he could've yanked all of his hair in one try.  
  
"Could you pleaseeeeeee get me back to Blackthorn? I would like to get there as fast as I could." Ash said as politely as he could without gritting his teeth.  
  
"Hmm, but young'n I think it's a tad bit earlier than we were supposed to leave!" she replied indignantly.  
  
"How do you know if it's dark in here? For all you know it could be nighttime," Ash responded, proud at his witty remark. At least he thought it was witty.  
  
"All righ', all righ'... Come on Shashooka, you're gonna love the pwesent I have for you! For the pwettiest Persian in the world!" the old lady said in a sickeningly babyish voice.  
  
The strange group was almost out of the dark tunnel Ash and Pikachu had come earlier when a thought struck like lightning to him.  
  
"How did you get into those caverns anyway? I thought I was the only one who could find this place!" Ash practically pouted.  
  
The old woman laughed. "Kids these days...Just look over there!"  
  
She pointed to a rocky road that was in the other side of the mountains surrounding the place. Ash face-faulted in response. He really thought that the tunnel he found when he was little was the only entrance. He was so proud of his own little achievement...  
  
"Oh." Ash said simply.  
  
After a while, they arrived to the 'airplane' which was stationed quite close to the magnificent place they had been earlier and could've easily been spotted earlier. Ash felt once again like a moron; a feeling he felt often in his childhood and didn't lighten up his bad mood.  
  
The strange group reached the plane and climbed up the ladder (the old lady carried the lazy Persian with one arm). The smell that greeted Ash and Pikachu almost made them pass out.   
  
Rotting fish don't go well with heat.  
  
Its odor was so disgustingly intensifying that Ash grabbed his cap and covered his nose. Pikachu was looking horribly green and was swaying disturbingly on his legs. In normal circumstances, Ash would've felt worried about him. But his food was gurgling up to his mouth and he was afraid that he'd spill his decomposed breakfast on the floor.   
  
"Uh...Pikachu?" Ash asked tentatively when his food was in its correct place.  
  
Pikachu headed to the corner and vomited his guts out. Ash wanted to make sure Pikachu was all right but the smell got better of him and he stayed in his place.  
  
"Hope...you're all right." Ash managed to say, trying not to join Pikachu in the barf fest.  
  
But while the both of them were suffering, Shashooka was in heaven. He pounced on a large Magikarp and bit into its hard scales. He was able to rip it apart easily; apparently Persians' teeth are strong enough to rip scales apart that were as strong as steel.   
  
"We'll reach Blackthorn by ten o' clock or a bit earlier," she called to them. Then the old lady watched Shashooka like a mother would watch her child sputtering his first word. Shashooka purred back at her through a mouthful of odorous fish.   
  
Ash swore to himself quietly one thing.  
  
He would never get on another airplane as long as he lived.   
  
  
  
*  
  
5:46 P.M  
  
Misty tried to act like a tantrum-throwing child when they arrived at the police headquarters. She didn't want to admit that it came easily to her but...it did. The police officer named Marsha was trying very hard to be patient but the muscle twitching at the corner on her mouth meant that the end result was going to be very ugly.  
  
Inside the building a very clean marble floor awaited their feet, around them the walls were painted in a strong dark blue color. There was only a single light bulb that was used to illuminate the entire room which - Misty thought - was to create even more shadows and make the room even more menacing to criminals at night. A long polished desk was the main thing in the room and made the worn leather seats seem puny. All of this was intimidating to say the least and the hawk-eyed lady who Misty swore was John's long lost sister didn't make things better.  
  
"Police officer Marsha," she said immediately in a crisp voice. "What is this young lady in for?" she said eyeing Misty with obvious distaste. Misty had to control the urge to punch her in the face.  
  
"Just minor matters, thanks for asking Eliza," but the way her mouth formed a very thin line contradicted what she said.  
  
"Fine then, please continue," the snotty woman named Eliza broke eye contact but just after shooting Marsha a poisonous look. She started to write something on a very official-looking paper with an air of superiority.   
  
"That old bitch," police officer Marsha whispered very softly, but Misty heard her and stifled a laugh.  
  
They headed towards a door labeled 'POLICE ONLY'. It was very, very, very different from the main hall.  
  
Piles of pieces of paper littered the muddy floor where police officers paced back and forth talking on walkie-talkies, shouting at their partners, taking a break to get a hot cup of coffee, or dictating things so other police officers could write in their computers. Sobs could be heard from the many poster covered offices. Misty could see a policeman ignoring the weeping robber and waiting for a confession. Almost nobody paid attention to Marsha and Misty.  
  
And Misty preferred it that way.  
  
The policewoman Marsha lead Misty to some phones that hung on the wall in a row. Misty gulped. She didn't plan very well on how to ditch her and she was thinking on a good excuse. None came. Only the most pathetic and weakest excuse ever - but she was desperate enough to use it.  
  
"Err...can I go to the bathroom?" Misty asked.   
  
Marsha was opening her mouth to reply when a young, frantic policeman ran over to them.  
  
"Marsha, Marsha!" he panted heavily and tried to lead her into a secluded corner.   
  
"What is it Kyle? What's wrong?" Marsha asked in an agitated voice when she was sure that nobody will bother them.  
  
He took a few gulps of air and continued. "Team Rocket...we think we found one of Giovanni's bases...Goldenrod City...Pedro said that many ex-members were going there...strange things happening over there, Marsha...5 people were kidnapped over there this week...Officer John just called us over, says we should check out..." he said in a low rushed voice. Kyle sat on the nearest chair to relax.  
  
"Team Rocket!" Marsha practically shouted. Kyle shushed her. Marsha lowered her voice. "We haven't heard from them in months, could this be...? We have to get to Goldenrod as fast as we can!"  
  
Kyle nodded calmly. "Yeah. Pack your things. We're going there the first thing on the morning." He noticed Misty for the first time. "Who's she?"  
  
"Nothing serious. She crossed the police line around the field that was burnt earlier. I'm about to call her parents; can't have kids doing those kind of things." Marsha nodded in Misty's direction.  
  
Policeman looked like he was going to laugh. "Pfft...Come on, Marsha! I didn't know you were that severe. What you need to do is focus on more important things than kids walking over lines. Heck, if I had to do call every kid's parents for crossing lines I'd be the most unpopular policeman among Blackthorn kids." He shook his head in amusement. But he turned serious almost immediately. "Concentrate on packing today. We have a very rough day tomorrow." Kyle left, but Misty was grateful at her chance of freedom.  
  
Marsha stared at Misty then sighed. "Fine, kid. You win. You can go home. I'll lead you out."   
  
Misty tried her lame excuse again. "Can I go to the bathroom before I leave?"  
  
Marsha waved a hand distractedly at Misty. "Yeah, yeah, yeah...hallway over there," she pointed to an elongated hallway on Misty's right. "Fifth door on the left." And with that she gave Misty a little slip of paper where she wrote something and left.  
  
The little paper said 'Permission for bathroom'. Misty went to the hallway the policewoman indicated her. She was sweating with nervousness but tried to act casual about it. The next part of her plan was the hardest thing. Find the innocent guy who was framed by Haruka.  
  
It was far easier said than done.  
  
The hallway was very long and the fifth door seemed to be very far away. When she reached it, Misty opened the door to be met by a disgusting smell of waste. She closed the door rapidly and saw the sign that said 'OUT OF ORDER'. This made things a bit easier, if someone found her sneaking in hallways she could always say that she was looking for a usable bathroom. Misty wasn't too sure that someone could buy her tale.  
  
Nobody was walking on the hallway. Misty checked doors that were on the left and right side of the hallway. Most of the were open so she peeked at the gaps and looked at the next door when she was sure the man she was looking for was not in it.  
  
"Oh, I give up," Misty said to herself grudgingly as she reached the last door.  
  
The last door was a room that had some stairs that were leading downstairs and another pair of stairs that were leading upstairs. Misty entered the room, very careful at closing the door. Misty went downstairs, placing her feet very slowly at each step. She noticed the heavy metal door that was open ajar .When Misty was downstairs she was faced to another kind of hallway.  
  
Her search was over.  
  
Each room had a big glass window where people could see inside each additional room and look at the prisoners. And one of them contained the person Misty was looking for, staring blankly at a cop who was speaking to him.  
  
"Bingo," Misty said softly, behind something she knew was big enough to leave her unseen. But it was going to be very hard to get to him. Police cops were all around the hallway talking and heading to different rooms to check on the prisoners. The policeman who talked to the innocent man took him to another door that was inside the room. When he was sure the prisoner was inside, he locked the door. He left the room entirely and he also locked the door.   
  
"Oh, that's just great," Misty muttered behind the giant plant pot which served as her temporary hiding place.  
  
The policeman who had just gotten outside was talking to another one. "He won't say anything. Just stares at me like I was just a blank wall or something."  
  
"I know, the only comprehendible thing he said was 'be careful...fire...destruction...end...save us'. Guess the guy was traumatized by what he did, though I'm not saying he didn't deserve that," the other cop said shaking his head while Misty boiled with anger in her hiding place.  
  
One of the policemen left and went to a normal door at the end, leaving the guy who interviewed the poor man behind. The other policemen were leaving the hallway entirely and entering the same door that the other policeman was already in.   
  
"Hey Martin, Hurry up! Don't want to miss the break do you?" one of the policeman asked the interrogator of Mike and disappeared behind the door where a lot of laughing could be heard even from the other end of the hallway where Misty was hidden.  
  
"Yeah, yeah...I'm coming." He stared at the transparent glass for a long time and didn't move to join his pals. This was Misty's opportunity. She didn't know what the consequences were going to be, but she was going to do it.  
  
Misty called Poliwhirl out.   
  
"This is just plain crazy, Poliwhirl...but we have no other choice! Punch him in the head!" she ordered. Poliwhirl swiftly ran over to the police cop and punched him with all his might. The police man didn't react in time and dropped unconscious, just when Misty realized the severity of what she did.   
  
"We-well, better hide him," she stuttered to herself, but a white, intense light got her attention. Poliwhirl was a sphere of radiant brightness that was changing shape and growing bigger and bulkier - after a few seconds in which the light grew dimmer and dimmer and Polytoad looked at her happily.  
  
"Toad!" He said in a deeper and throatier voice and clapped his hands in satisfaction.  
  
Misty smiled at him proudly but didn't do anything else. She had to hide the police officer before anyone spotted them.  
  
She hauled the police officer with all her strength. Misty was surprised that it wasn't too hard to drag him, but realized that he was very skinny and felt as light as a feather. She hid him behind the dying plant that served as her previous hiding place. Misty clumsily took all the keys she could find from him and with a racing heart opened the door that led to Mark Stevens.   
  
There wasn't anything interesting except a fairly long bench. And the door. She took some keys out of her pocket and tried them on the keyhole. Misty was getting desperate as she One of them was the right one and with a sweaty palm she turned the door knob.  
  
It was fairly dark and the room was small by Misty's standards. She closed the door quietly. Mark Stevens was sitting silently, he had shaggy brown hair that draped around his face like a dirty curtain. His eyes, they were so dark with torment that they looked like a man with soulless eyes. She shivered at the memory; Misty tried to stuff it away at the back of her mind but Mark looked like a living corpse. His face was a papery color and his mouth was curved downward in a depressing arch. Mark's skin was a dull peach color with so many deep wrinkles that it appeared to be scars made with a sharp dagger. His arms and most of his body was covered tightly in a white straightjacket - he wasn't making any attempt at freeing himself. He looked at her with unemotional eyes.  
  
There was an eternal silence in which both of them stared at each other with unblinking eyes, until Misty spoke without thinking carefully of her words. "You're innocent."  
  
He shifted a little in his seat. In a clear voice that directed a chilling certainty he answered. "I am not."  
  
"You were framed, and I'm going to set you free," she whispered to the man who was unable believe his innocence. Oh, Misty was going to convince him all right....  
  
His eyes turned that of a frightened wounded animal. "You are mad. If I get my freedom I will do it again. I won't hurt anybody anymore. You hear that!" his pitch rose then he broke off, lost in his own hateful world of imaginary monsters.  
  
"Another person did it. She brainwashed the minds of those who were near you, but not my own. I'm the only witness who saw her burn the whole field and kill all of those innocent people," Misty replied, but it did even more damage to him than reassure him.  
  
His haunted eyes lined with tears even Misty could see in the poor light. "It was me...I burnt the field...I killed my partners in cold blood. IT WAS ME YOU HEAR, I KILLED THEM ALL!" he roared, believing his own harsh words. Mark stopped abruptly and started to rock back and forth sobbing loudly and wailing incomprehensible words which tore Misty's heart in two.   
  
"Hey, hey, it's ok -" Misty reassured him in a low voice hoping that the room was soundproof.   
  
"-You have to believe in me...Please! This girl...I don't know how she did it, but she can control fire...she burnt the whole field and killed your friends with a ball of fire. You didn't have any Fire Pokemon with you because you're a firemen - you guys are never allowed to have them in working hours. Also, how could you have burnt a whole field with that small gasoline container? It's impossible! Then how could you have killed 12 people with that small amount, huh? Those poor people would've known if you sprayed them gasoline or something flammable on them - and what about the witnesses? They would've stopped you from doing that and accuse you a lot earlier. But they didn't, did they?" Misty finished in a rush. She was babbling; Misty always did that when she was nervous or frantic.  
  
The man who aged so much in such a short period of time in which his life was crashing down, spoke words that surprisingly contained bitter amusement. "I think you're the one who needs the straightjacket more than me." He grinned crookedly at her.  
  
Misty couldn't believe what she heard and stared at him with determination. "You're the most selfish man I have ever known." She felt delighted in his reaction and let some seconds go by so the bold words could register in his brain. "Yes, you are because you can't accept my words, and you'll bring your family such grief and utter disappointment that your body as well as your soul will always be unrest. Do you want see the fire in your dreams for the rest of your life, suffering at night as well as daytime? You'll never distinguish reality from your nightmares. Is that what you really want, believing lies and paying the high price that should pay another person - for the rest of your life? If you want to rebuild your life - believe my words. If not...then you have my deepest sympathies and you can rot in your cell for the rest of your life without the opportunity of suicide - which would be your only escape." Misty was so astonished at her words as much as the man. She immediately regretted her choice of words once the last syllable passed her lips. Misty always had the knack of   
  
The silence that surrounded them was absolutely piercing. It enveloped them like damp, thick blanket of noiseless space. Misty was afraid that with her words she would've lost the only opportunity at a chance to talk to Mark. The silence was overbearing but she didn't dare break it.  
  
"Yes," he said at last with quaver in his voice, proof of the unmistakably nearness of approaching tears. "Yes, I'll...accept - though I don't know what I'm accepting. Yes - I accept your unbelievable story...but I don't believe it..." Misty was about to protest when he continued. "...yet I have a lot to lose and I have no one else to help me. So, please...help me..." and he broke down completely lost in his own personal sorrow. Tears trailed down his dirty, pale cheeks with such a magnitude that his whole body shook and for the first time, tried to break free from his white clothed prison. He fell from his bed with a soft bump while he still wailed uncontrollably, drowning in a pool of desperation.   
  
Misty couldn't help the two small tears that fell slowly to her small, yellow shirt. But she hid them well. He needed her strength - she couldn't afford showing weakness.  
  
Misty helped the anguished man to sit, but he laid his head on her shoulder, a gesture that searched for comfort and protection from an unknown and invisible enemy only he could only see. Misty could feel the warm tears sliding down her shoulders and Mark's rough cheek that scratched Misty's cheek irritably. Misty tentatively placed a consoling hand on his back which quieted his sobs a little. She hugged him, a man that was suffering from his hallucinations and dark mind. A man who was much older than Misty, who experienced10 times more things in his life than her, and never met before the scrawny redheaded girl before in his life.   
  
Yet he, Mark Stevens, a mature adult that doubled her in age, shared his grief on the shoulder of Misty, a 16 year old girl who was cradling him and giving hope he thought he lost.  
  
*  
  
7:09 P.M  
  
Brock watched with enamored glazed eyes as Haruka kept on talking and talking. He didn't know what exactly she was talking about - but it didn't matter. She was focusing all her attention on him, and as long as she moved those delicate cherry lips he would be happy.  
  
They had just come out of the kitchen with a batch of freshly baked cookies. Brock had been tempted to eat one of them but Haruka slapped his hands playfully when he was close to grabbing one of them. She said that they were baked especially for Misty since she hadn't gone out of her room in hours and would be very hungry.  
  
They were both heading back to Misty's room, it was a while since she made any kind of noise. Brock hoped that Misty hadn't escaped the room or anything along that style. Maybe she was sleeping but that was as likely as Ash eating just one serving of food.  
  
"I hope Misty hadn't escaped or anything, even though I would've done the same thing in her place," Brock muttered quietly. It was Haruka's idea to place Misty in their room so she could relax properly. Haruka heard his remark and turned her head swiftly to face him.  
  
"It's for her own good Brock. I know it seems a bit extreme to place an Electabuzz to patrol outside her door, but if you were me, Brock, and somebody just told you that you killed 12 people and burned a whole field without a trace of proof...what would you do?" Haruka questioned in her own straightforward way that only she could. It made Brock feel chills down his spine.  
  
In a good way.  
  
"I guess you do have a point there," Brock surrendered. He barely knew Haruka for less than a day and he already felt that he could never win an argument with her.  
  
Haruka smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, sorry Brock. I didn't mean to sound so rude. It's just that...it hurt to hear those comments from someone I wanted to meet for such a long time."  
  
Brock stared at her. A question had just popped from his mind. "Why did you want to meet Misty so badly? I mean...she isn't famous or anything," a statement that would be foolish to say if the sentence reached Misty's ears.  
  
Haruka looked like lightning had struck her. It was only for a mid-second, but it was there. She composed herself and flashed Brock another of her sweet smiles.  
  
"You don't know how much I have heard about her. I know all her story; how her sisters mistreated her and how she was always the little runt who never had any spotlight. Her love for water Pokemon and the ocean itself... How she ran away from home one day and met a boy who she followed. Though I don't know that part very clearly. Why did she follow you anyway?" she asked Brock.  
  
Brock just smiled politely at her confusion. "I wasn't the one she followed! It was my friend, see? He stole her bike to get faster to a Pokemon Center because his Pikachu was in critical condition. But the same Pikachu busted her bike to save him from a flock of Spearows. It's really a wacky story. My friend isn't here - he's back home visiting his grandparents, but his name is A- " Brock was interrupted by some grunting noises coming from a closet.  
  
He instinctively stood in front of Haruka protectively and approached the closet with caution. Haruka almost tripped over a rubber ducky on the floor. A kid must've forgotten it even if it was a strange place to drop it.  
  
Brock gulped a few times and opened the door very fast. He was very surprised at what he saw even though he felt foolish at not thinking that Misty would do something like what he was seeing.  
  
A duct-taped Electabuzz was staring at him with half-opened eyes and a huge lump was on top of his head. He was coming around and his eyes were adjusting to light he hadn't seen in hours.   
  
Brock couldn't tell what Haruka's expression was in the dim light. But in the next moment she ran with great speed to their dormitory and kicked the door open, almost ripping it out of its hinges. She didn't even drop a single cookie in all this violent display.  
  
He hesitantly went to see inside the room. Togepi was sleeping peacefully, hugging Misty's favorite Tentacool doll with a cute little satisfied smile on his face. Torchic was sleeping, resembling an orange football. It looked like no one had been in the room except for Togepi and Torchic. The sheets weren't even rumpled, a clear sign of her escape. Brock was a bit frustrated but he knew she would be back. Maybe Misty was out shopping or sightseeing. Brock hid a grin, it was amusing the ways she would keep her independence.  
  
But someone was definitively not amused.  
  
Brock again couldn't decipher her expression. Her face was hidden behind all the thick, shiny brown hair. But there was something about her posture and the way she gripped the tray of cookies with hands shaking in fury that she was not at all happy. Haruka snapped her fingers and Torchic instantly awoke and stared at Haruka with guikty eyes. Haruka returned Torchic back into his PokeBall without another word.  
  
"Do you want a cookie Brock. They're still fresh!" Haruka chirped. It was so sudden, so unexpected at this moment when just seconds before she seemed ready to punch someone. Haruka lifted her cookie tray even higher and batted her eyelashes in a way he couldn't resist. Brock was so bewildered he took a cookie without question. The cookie tasted great. It's warm doughiness and sweetness filled his mouth. He wanted to comment on the excellent cookies but a yawn escaped his mouth.  
  
"Brock, you seem so tired. Come lie down for a minute it will do you good." Brock wanted to protest, but an even longer yawn escaped his mouth.  
  
"Yeah...that sounds good," Brock said tiredly. His eyes felt like lead and it was hard enough just to respond to her. Sleep, now he knew why Misty liked to sleep so early. The bed seemed at this moment like the most important thing in the world.  
  
Haruka fluffed his pillow and covered him in a thick blanket. "Yeah, that's it Brockie. Don't you worry now...I'll find Misty and bring her back, ok?"  
  
The last thing Brock saw before he went to slumber land was Haruka blowing him a coquette kiss and closing the door quietly.  
  
*  
  
7:59 P.M  
  
Her life was getting on splendidly. She had work that paid her very well, and the job itself was very exciting and adventurous with high risks, nonetheless, but exciting. She had absolute free reign when she socialized with people in her own unique way. There was nothing better than the adrenalin that filled her when she was on some special task with the rest of her companions and the large mounds of money she received each time she did well on her job. And the generous amount of money the citizens gave them very willingly for each successful mission. They sometimes liked to give away their Pokemon as a sign of gratitude and they always are always so joyful to join them.  
  
It was a very fulfilling life.  
  
Her long, blue hair that she changed a week earlier, was tied in a neat white ribbon that fell down her shoulder. She had bright green eyes that had blue eye shadow on, that sparkled each time money was presented to her. She had pale skin with a small nose and big luscious lips that were painted a lucid pink. She wore very small gold circular earrings and short unpainted nails. Her crisp, yellow and pink uniform was presentable, not even one stain in sight or an edge wrinkled. A nametag was pinned on her upper-left part of her uniform, clearly printed in black letters the name "Melissa" so everyone could see.  
  
"Welcome to the Happy Blissey Corner! May I take your order?" Melissa asked in a sing-song voice.  
  
"Uh, um...Melissa...can I have the Sweet Squirtle Soda with a-" the young boy squinted at the choices "- Cheerful Oddish Burger Surprise? Gee, what kind of stupid name is - " he stopped abruptly. "Er...yeah. I want a Sweet Squirtle Soda with the Oddish Burger Surprise," he said grimacing at the names.  
  
"Coming right up, young man!" Melissa giggled and went to bring the bratty kid his drink and burger that were, thankfully, already made in the back room.  
  
"Here you go! That would be 7.45$, sir!" she stated contentedly as she handed him a tray with his order on it.  
  
He dug in his pocket for the money and brought out some bills and dimes. "Thanks," he replied curtly and went to a nearby table with his tray.  
  
"Stupid kid..." Melissa muttered under her breath and went to the room in the back to have a break.  
  
Melissa didn't meet up with anybody willing to talk to her, which was splendidly fine with her.  
  
Behind a shelf full of greasy pots and pans there was a superficially uninteresting brick wall. She pressed with the 25th brick on the left and the wall slid upwards to reveal a well illuminated entry. Melissa entered and the wall immediately closed up. She walked the long corridor that was far too long for her own taste and fortunately she reached the end of it. A square-shaped, metal, computerized pad on the wall was the only thing in the bland white wall. Melissa placed her hand on top of it and the wall slid upwards like the other brick wall.  
  
The grand, comfortable room was filled with leather sofas and a cozy fireplace illuminated the room. Expensive paintings hung elegantly on the crimson red walls while flickers of shadows moved with a life on its own. At one corner of the room was a mini cafeteria where they served fresh cinnamon buns and doughnuts of every flavor.  
  
Other employees were in the room chatting placidly or sipping hot mugs of coffee or tea. Melissa searched for an empty seat. There were none, so she did the best next thing.  
  
Melissa went over to an unparticular chair and pushed the person on the chair with a strong shove. The poor bastard unfortunately crashed against another girl who was carrying a cup of tea. The girl let out a shrill shriek of surprise and the cup of burning tea that was on her hand landed on the guy's head. He screamed in agony as the hot tea touched his skin, which turned raw red at the contact. He stood up very fast and turned to face the one who dared to push him. A brave but futile move.  
  
"YOU BITCH! What is your fucking problem?!" He snarled incensed, his fists curling and uncurling menacingly, which didn't intimidate Melissa a bit.   
  
Melissa didn't even blink but flashed him a winning smile. "Oh sorry. I just wanted a seat, that's all," she said in a falsely honeyed voice.   
  
"You stupid whore...you're going to pay for that one..." he whispered in threatening silky voice. He raised his fist and punched her without any warning and giving no thought that she was a woman. The crowd that had surrounded them, curious at all the commotion, gasped in unity.  
  
Melissa sidestepped easily to the left and avoided his blow completely. Agitated that his punch didn't land on his target, he tried it again with even more force and speed. She stuck her foot out and he tripped and landed face-first on the luxurious rug. He was embarrassed, but his rage was greater than his embarrassment and tried quick punches to her face.   
  
She blocked all his punches easily but she was growing irritated and decided to end this bothersome 'fight'.   
  
He tried to punch her yet again but she dived under his arm and stood up until she was only inches from his face. His stunned surprise gave her a few seconds and Melissa grabbed both of his shoulders to push herself high enough and lift her foot directly at his nose.She swiftly kicked him and with a disgusting crunch he went flying across the floor directly to the surprised crowd. Some people who were unhurt tried to help the dazed people on the floor. The guy's nose was a broken bloody mess and he stared at her with fearful eyes instead of the previously irate ones.   
  
Melissa walked over to him and the scared crowd stepped away from her waiting another confrontation. She detached the nametag from her uniform and turned it around to show what was behind that nametag. His eyes were very open now and staring at her with a very frightened expression.  
  
"I-I-I di-didn't know it wa-was y-you, m'la-lady! If I-I ha-had kno-known it-it was you I would have never...would have not...lay a s-s-single hand on y-you! P-please h-have mercy!" he cried out in panic. Melissa sneered in disgust and grabbed his shirt by the neck. She glared at him for a second or two, though it seemed like hours to him and without any notice she smashed her knee painfully into his lower regions. The guy's eyes filled with pathetic tears and he closed his legs tightly and moaned in excruciating suffering.  
  
"It's lucky for you I was in a good mood or otherwise you wouldn't have been so fortunate. Consider this the day that you accomplished the biggest achievement of your life. 'Why?' you might foolishly ask me. Well, I only left you with broken balls which is quite an attainment...since I could've killed you on the spot - though I was quite surprised you had any balls in the first place," she jeered at him and sat triumphantly on the comfy leather chair.  
  
The intimidated crowd left the room rapidly and one kind, yet idiotic soul helped the beaten guy off the floor and carried him to the exit. Melissa grinned, her spirits and good mood increased quite noticeably and she plopped her feet on the settee.   
  
Something got Melissa's attention: A blond-haired man she never seen before but seemed a bit familiar tried to fight the panicked crowd that was forming in the entrée.  
  
"What the hell is going on here?! Why is everybody running a- " he managed to enter the elegant common room and caught a glimpse of the defeated wuss who was causing quite a strain to carry for the idiot who was carrying him. He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw who was in the room. The blond-haired man closed the door when there was nobody else in the room except the two of them. When he turned to grin at her, Melissa recognized him with surprise and grinned in return.  
  
"Why I should've known that it was you who caused that unfortunate incident, Cassidy," he smiled amused and sat commodiously on the couch. He slipped his boots from his feet that landed with a heavy clunk.  
  
"Oh you know, the usual, Butch. The asshole pissed me off badly and I just gave him a piece of his own medicine, though the bastard actually had the nerve to try to hit me. Good thing I was on a good mood or he wouldn't even be conscious now," she stated matter-of-factly. She watched his hair for a while and commented. "Well, seems you wanted to impress one of those brainless blondes you always fake to drool at in headquarters to hide the fact that you're gay, of course. Which is the unlucky one to have you as her boyfriend?" she asked amiably.  
  
He didn't flinch even a bit and sipped on an abandoned warm coffee that someone left untouched. "I wouldn't talk if I were you, Cassidy. With that distasteful blue hair and eye color. You look exactly like one of those cheap sluts who like to show off their mini clothing that could pass off easily as dental floss, just to have a chance to get a good humping - instead of the grandpas that are desperate enough to get laid by you," he retorted cordially, not taking his eyes off the coffee cup.  
  
"My, my, my...seems you are also in a pleasant mood today," Cassidy responded merrily. "But let's get back to serious matters." She searched for any eavesdroppers with suspicious eyes. "I don't think this room is private enough, follow me," and she got up with a suddenly quiet Butch following her.  
  
They hurried out of the room and any meddling member who watched them, was met by a glacial glare by Cassidy and they soon pretended to lose interest in them, afraid of their well-being.  
  
After walking for several long minutes in silence they arrived at a grand office (just after the guards stared at Butch stonily) with commodious looking blue velvet wrapped chairs. A long oak desk was the main eye-catching furniture because of its extended size. Rows and rows of books placed in many shelves covered the whole back wall adding the room an air of professionalism.  
  
"Ah, here we are. We're not expecting any visitors and I hope you will leave us unperturbed by kicking out any unwelcome guests. Don't let anyone enter this room, got it?" the guard shook their heads rapidly and stood guard over the door. Cassidy and Butch entered and closed it behind slowly.  
  
"Ok Cassidy, I hope that what you have to say is important. I don't like wasting time, you know," he grumbled snidely though he knew perfectly that Cassidy always said things worth listening.  
  
"As you may obviously be aware of Butch, the boss raised our position in the organization," Cassidy began with Butch listening eagerly. "We're just a step away at being his right hand mans, yet he is still a bit dubious at where our priorities lie. He had no other choice. We know things that could benefit him greatly, but...he still has more trust on Domino as you know. The bitch became his personal slut, as the rumors go and with her high skills in combat and stealth it will be difficult to surpass the position that we're in-"   
  
"Cassidy - as it is regretful to interrupt you, I must comment on this...Why in hell's name are you telling me the painfully clear facts? We're wasting time with retelling facts and we should plan on gaining Giovanni's reliance. Time is very short and I don't know how long it's going to take him to have every single member's corporation in this little suicide plan we think he has. If we don't move swiftly we may never have another chance," he sneered. Cassidy was very annoyed at this interruption, he didn't know her full plan.  
  
"If you had let me finish Butch I would've kindly finished telling my plan," she forgot her annoyance and grinned very cat-like. "Giovanni is planning total world domination as we may recall, right?" Butch nodded. "And he is slowly reaching his goal. He already manipulated and blackmailed 4 different cities to almost complete control. We can't let him dominate any more cities, Butch, that's the main objective. But your pitiful plan on building another organization is quite an impossible goal to reach, Butch. So I'm thinking on a much harder plan, oh it's going to take a lot of planning and it may take time to achieve it...but when the fruits of our plans ripen, no one - and I mean no one - will be able to stop us," Cassidy smiled with clear ambition in her eyes.   
  
"And what exactly do you have in mind, Cassidy?" Butch asked, his interest rising.  
  
"The goal is quite simple to name, really," her smile grew wider, and she began to walk around the room in eager earnest. "How does the idea of taking control of the whole Team Rocket organization sound to you?"  
  
Butch stared at her with a very open mouth for a full minute. "You must be insane," Butch said when he recovered.   
  
"It isn't such a different concept from your older plan, Butch. You see, instead of using the respect and trust of the rest of the members by being the right-hand people of Giovanni to recruit members in a new organization; we would recruit them to form a growing group of loyal recruits to help us overthrow Giovanni and control the whole establishment. We could give them anything they want in exchange of infinite loyalty, besides we have almost all of Team Rocket's resources in our grasp - it shouldn't be to difficult getting what they want. The problem would be how to approach them without exposing ourselves and the possibility of a traitorous act among our ranks," Cassidy crossed out ideas in her head and new ones kept popping each second.   
  
"And - what exactly could make us guarantee the full loyalty of our future members, Cassidy?" Butch smiled sardonically, who was dubious at the idea itself.  
  
"There's got to be some way - I know it Butch!" She waved her hand at the hundreds of books. "One of them should hold the answer for us, Butch. Extreme loyalty...perhaps using blackmail to obtain our means? No, they would hold resentment and hatred toward us and it would backfire in the end. Maybe some kind of old magic...extreme loyalty...there has to be something in those books, about it!" Cassidy yelled furiously. Butch merely grinned.  
  
"Ah...but we don't have all the time in the world, Cassidy. The boss would suspect something and kill us before you even finish reading the last book. And - are you absolutely sure that no one can overhear us?" Butch asked, hiding his worry.  
  
"Don't worry about it. The walls are completely soundproof and no one can place bug equipment in these walls. It's impossible, I'm the only person who can lock or open this door. It's voice activated." Cassidy answered with surety.  
  
"Are you really sure that nobody heard you?" A voice said from behind.  
  
Cassidy and Butch both froze.  
  
Neither of them said that.  
  
**********  
  
Hehehe...my first official cliffhanger. I'm once again sorry about the extremely long wait, but I hope this chapter overrode your frustration. I'm going to answer from now on some reviews at the bottom of each chapter. Thanks, and please keep reviewing!  
  
Amber Myst: *smiles mysteriously* You shall see...  
  
DarkAngelTorchic: *laughs evilly* I'm glad you think of this fic the same way I do. ;)  
  
Raion Hinote: I like your reviews a lot, thanks! Maybe I'll add a little bit of Jesse and James if I can manage to squeeze it (I haven't planned to make Jesse, James and Meowth a big part on this fic - so we'll see). It's too bad you're not into the Pokemon scene anymore...(which is the last episode you watched?)  
  
Zibakura: Sorry I haven't updated earlier. ^^; As for your question...You'll know in a couple more chapters. ;)  
  
lil_washu: I will continue my fic, so don't worry. :) This was just a very long span of time without updating and nothing more.*sheepish grin* 


	4. Reckless Streak

Disclaimer: Pokemon doesn't belong to me...but I gave them the idea! ...Or maybe not.  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter also took a long time to get out, but the country I'm living on - Bolivia, was having serious problems: no food, no water and 100,000 people had paralyzed the city so I hope you understand why I couldn't get out this chapter sooner (I couldn't go to one of those places that have Internet - since I still don't have it). This was supposed to be part of the third chapter, but it grew too big. So I decided to split it in two. I'm glad I decided that. Also the 'R' rating will be applied soon enough (though I think some chapters can be better applied the 'PG-13' label, but tell me if it deserves another rating in a review if you think so). I won't be able to write the fifth chapter too much this week or the next because I have lots of school project due this time. So I hope this long chapter can make up for the long wait (it's almost the same length from chapter 3 - over 10,000 words but it's still longer than the first 2 chapters ).   
  
Important Note: By the way...from now on this sign ~ means a different character perspective on the same place and time. The * still remains as a different character perspective on a different time and/or place.  
  
Reckless Streak  
  
8:23 P.M  
  
Cassidy and Butch turned around quickly to face the spy who overheard their conversation, with a mix of fear and anxiety. It wasn't Giovanni - thank goodness. Nor any Team Rocket member or a Psychic Pokemon. It was a tall figure dressed in a black coat that hid its feet, and the rest of its body was also well concealed. Its face and head was covered in a silver mask that had no eye holes, which Butch thought as very bizarre. There was nothing else to describe it - only his long cloak and mask that veiled its features. Butch asked himself inwardly how it could've found the hidden Team Rocket establishment hidden behind a restaurant and how it could've passed the guards without alarm.  
  
Butch took out his pistol that was hidden in a back pocket of his pant with a sudden wrist movement. "Tell us who you are and what rank you are placed in... and I may let you live," Butch demanded in a threatening tone.  
  
The figure didn't move or tremble. In fact, it didn't show any sign that it could see Butch or heard him. Butch was a bit fazed that his threat didn't impact the intruder.  
  
"You should be the one to feel frightened," the cloaked thing said. It had a deep, piercing voice that echoed around the room yet, strangely, Butch couldn't actually pinpoint exactly if it was male or a female.   
  
Butch pressed the trigger fired at it with such an explosion of sound that he wondered if Cassidy was now a bit doubtful that the room was soundproof.  
  
The bullet headed directly to its intended target at an incredible speed that the human eye could barely observe in time. The bullet headed directly to the heart of the cloaked figure, but the bullet didn't bury into its skin. It remained immobile for a second or two, suspended in air, and dropped down with a disheartening thud.  
  
Butch was completely terrified. The spy wasn't hurt in any way and it was still standing there - like a dark shadow. Fear was gripping Butch's heart tightly with cold hands, yet his heart still pounded wildly in his ribcage with furious horror. His mouth was unable to produce any single coherent word and it took several failed attempts to say his next sentence. Butch tried to keep his panic to the minimum.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
It moved, or slithered, or floated - he couldn't quite distinguish - in front of Butch. He stepped back several feet away from it in fear, yet the figure kept coming closer until it cornered Butch. Its silver-masked face was very close to his and it answered.  
  
"I want your help."  
  
Butch's heart slowed down considerably, yet he was still very frightened of the tall, masked figure. If it wanted his help it meant that it wouldn't kill him - at least Butch hoped desperately. Cassidy was at a reasonably safer distance from it and Cassidy also relaxed but almost immediately she was tense again as the masked figure turned its head towards her for a moment. It immediately snapped its head to Butch when it heard his question.  
  
"In what?" Butch asked weakly.  
  
The figure backed off and moved around in small circles - to the great comfort of Butch. After it stopped moving, it whispered in a low voice full of command. "I want you to attack the Pokemon Center."  
  
The silence that followed his request was one that deaf always hear.   
  
"Excuse me?" Cassidy asked unbelievably in a foolishly affronting voice.  
  
It confronted her in a sudden flash, its robes rippling in undead air. "Is something wrong with my idea?" it asked in a chilling voice that froze Cassidy's heart for a second. She visibly gathered up her courage and spoke.  
  
"What kind of profit could we gain attacking there? Exposing ourselves unnecessarily for a bunch of Pokemon that we already have in immense quantities. Almost all 350 species. So why should we? It is an absurd suggestion," Cassidy once again, met squarely against the menacing figure with boldness that impressed Butch.  
  
The masked thing laughed coldly in her ear. "I'll tell you a good reason. If you won't do it I'll kill you both in such a gruesome and painful death that even your puny minds could never imagine- " Cassidy trembled at this but it wasn't finished speaking. "-and you might find something that will help you enormously in your appealing task of overthrowing your boss. Also, be aware of the fact that I can tell your boss your little secret if you fail or refuse my demand. But if that still doesn't convince you..." it went over to the large desk and placed both of its covered hands (at least Butch thought that) and a large mound of bills appeared. It covered the entire desk and Butch was unable to conceal the delight on his face.  
  
"I hope you are rethinking my plan." If they could've seen its face it would've been smiling. Cassidy approached the desk cautiously and touched the mound with precaution, as though the bills would burst into fire at any second. When she saw no danger she picked up all the bills she could carry and throw it in the air in happiness.  
  
The figure turned to face them both. "This large pile of money is a small bonus for doing me this *favor*. I won't reclaim it back if you flounder your mission. But - don't think I'll turn a blind eye if you fail to attack the Pokemon Center the way I want you to. Punishment goes to those who deserve it, and it's the only thing I like to do after a miscarried mission," he whispered in a deadly tone.  
  
"Why do you want us to assault the Pokemon Center in the first place?" Cassidy, of course, asked.  
  
It turned around to answer her. "That is my own business." It spoke in a voice clearly saying not to pry for more information. Cassidy didn't say anything else.  
  
"And what exactly is the thing that will help us in our goal? And how can it help us?" Butch questioned, hoping it wouldn't get angry at him.  
  
The cloaked thing didn't turn to answer him but kept moving and checking everything in the room. The air had a bone-shaking coldness; Butch rubbed his hands together so his hands wouldn't freeze.  
  
"It will help you in impelling Giovanni from the organization he created. He won't be easy to kill, I'll tell you that - that man won't let anyone take control of his life-long success. If you manage to kill him, then from that point forward it should be relatively easy to take over everything. And what exactly is it? Well...bring me back the thing you *think* will accomplish Giovanni's death and I will give you more riches than any other person in the world. But you must bring me something or I'll immediately think it as failure."   
  
It headed towards the door, but stopped before crossing it. "I expect you to attack the Pokemon Center tonight - it would be the perfect time. But don't think I won't come back...I have a natural ability to appear at the most inopportune times, always unnoticed. I might not come back tomorrow, or the day after - but I will come." It whispered and without another notice it vanished.  
  
Once they both were sure that it had gone, they sighed in relief. "So...what should we do?" Butch asked in a very low voice still containing terror.   
  
Cassidy eyed the pile of money with a big smile. "Why do we have to do it anyway? We have no good reason to ask the other members to attack the Pokemon Center. No reason at all. Besides, we still have this pile of money all for ourselves..." she grinned ambitiously. But as soon as those words escaped her lips she felt as if her whole body was covered in burning ice. Cassidy couldn't move a single muscle or bone in her body; she tried to scream for help but her jaws were frozen solid and her mind became so numb she couldn't even remember how to speak.  
  
"You were saying?" the cloaked thing spoke in a booming voice, though it was nowhere in sight.  
  
"She was mistaken. We will do it," Butch said to all of the walls, hoping it could hear him, hoping that it would stop torturing Cassidy. There was a panicked, eternal silence in which Butch hoped the thing will return the full control of Cassidy's body.   
  
Cassidy wasn't prepared for the sudden control of her body, so she fell hard and landed painfully on her chin. She got up and flexed all the limbs in her body with great alleviation, yet she - Butch though - must've felt stupid at the mistake that could've caused her more than a temporary paralysis.   
  
"Don't ever make me angry again or I'll make sure you never move your body again," it whispered only to Cassidy, but when she turned around it wasn't there. "I made sure the Pokemon Center has a holographic projector around it which displays a peacefully quiet Pokemon Center to any curious passersby. It will conceal any violent activities from them, it is almost impossible to see through it. The projector is only activated tonight and will deactivate tomorrow, but it will also deactivate if you abort the mission or fail it. I expect success."   
  
And with that final declaration it left, leaving Cassidy and Butch in a stunned, muted atmosphere.  
  
***  
  
8:49 P.M   
  
Mark didn't calculate the hours that Misty passed in that padded cell with him. He cried all that time, unabashed at showing his agony. She comforted him, murmured words of hope and promised him to get him his freedom. Yet Misty sometimes looked preoccupied at the oddest of times when she thought no one was looking. But Mark watched all these moments without letting her know. He wondered why she was so troubled - though he had to laugh inwardly at this. Any normal girl would be apprehensive with a prisoner.  
  
Misty was currently hugging the whimpering man, who was huddled in a corner, yet, Mark didn't oppose or attack Misty in any way. He even cried less and less each minute that passed, and buried himself into Misty's warm embrace, the only thing that kept him from breaking down into insanity - a fact that Misty didn't know.   
  
After all of the agonizing hours in that awful cell that seemed to get close and smaller each time Mike stared at it. He was so lonely...so afraid, but Misty soothed and healed some of his painful wounds. She gave him faith, something that he thought he lost forever. Words couldn't express the gratitude and happiness that she offered him selflessly.  
  
His own family gave up on him. He had seen their tears of shame and betrayal. They turned their back on him; left him abandoned and cold at the mercy of the hateful fate. Yet Misty, such a young girl, saved him before it was too late - before despair consumed him totally. Mark almost believed he could be totally free and secure - feelings that were almost forgotten, buried at the back of his mind. But those feelings were returning, ever so slowly, but they were.  
  
Mark lost himself in one of his anguishing memories. He knew perfectly well he couldn't go back to his family. Those backstabbers left him here to rot, to be absorbed by the loneliness and regret of his thoughts.   
  
Mark finally believed that he didn't do it. Because if he really killed all those people, then a 16-year old wouldn't even take pity on him, even less, comfort him. He was more than suspicious, he had to admit that. Why would she soothe a criminal in his own cell, even if he was innocent? Yet his gratefulness was greater than his suspicion.  
  
'Misty': Mark knew he would remember that name forever. She gave him things that even his own family couldn't provide him in Mark's hardest time - but...why? Any normal girl her age wouldn't even think of cheering up a murderer, even worse - a man who is 12 years older than her, nor have taken the great risk of getting caught by the police. It was such a mystery...he couldn't even begin to comprehend it. Mark couldn't believe that such a generous and kind soul could even exist. Egoistic, that is how people are - even from the very beginning, stealing another person's food when they're hungry, ruling the land of the weak and powerless to gain more authority, cheating off the money of the poor, there is always a trace of selfish self-interest in every human being...yet, there seemed to be an exception...  
  
Misty stopped hugging him and stood up abruptly. The confusion and disappointment on his face was not lost on Misty. She seemed to have regret in her eyes and Mark was starting to get worried. Had he been wrong to think that Misty was an open-hearted person?  
  
Misty sighed, then turned to him. "I got to go..."  
  
Mark's disappointment was even more obvious to Misty's eyes than ever. He felt sad, lost but most of all: anger. Was she going to abandon him now - just like his family? Mark had shared his pain and frustrations with her... and she was going to desert him, just like everyone he had loved and cherished. His resentment, fury and depression were bubbling dangerously on the surface of his mind. Mark twisted his face towards her with tears he was unable to hide. "Are you going to give up on me?" he whispered bitterly, his tears descending quietly.  
  
"Of course not! I'm not going to abandon you...it's just that - I can't free you today..." she said remorsefully, but Mark wasn't hearing any of it.  
  
"Bullshit! Just say it outright if you have the courage. Say that you're going to leave me and never come back. I'd feel less grief if you admit it..." he finished in a low voice to avoid showing more sorrow. But his face couldn't conceal that emotion very well.  
  
"No! I swear I'm coming back, please believe me! I just have to rethink my plan...I need a solid scheme to get you outta here. If they find me here - then there won't be any chance at rescuing you!" Misty screamed, but Mark just had to smile sourly. Her excuses to get out of his cell were a tad bit amusing in a distasteful kind of way.   
  
"You don't need to waste false explanations. Please just say that you'll desert me...I don't want bogus hopes at seeing you again..." he tried to hide his face on the mattress of his filthy bed. Mark wasn't comfortable at showing his tears ever again.  
  
"Fine. I'll give you some proof that I'm really coming back." At this affirmation, Mark's eyes turned automatically to Misty, a faint glitter of belief shone in his eyes. She took out a Poke Ball from her backpack and presented it to him. "This is my Goldeen. I took care of it since I was 8, she was the first Pokemon I ever captured. Do I need to show you any more confirmation that I'm coming back?" she said cheerfully.  
  
Mark was absolutely startled. He tried to stand up to se her eyes even more clearly, searching for a sign - any sign that showed that Misty was lying. To his amazement and joyfulness there was none.  
  
"Ma-maybe there is no Pokemon inside," he stuttered a pretext, to avoid feeling trust and confidence in this girl.  
  
Without another word, Misty threw the Poke Ball to the ground and Goldeen appeared, flapping on the floor unable to do more on land. Mark was once again flabbergasted. It just couldn't be...  
  
"Will you really leave your Goldeen behind?" Optimism was blooming in his heart and he thought it was safer if it withered before it took control of his heart. Mark's tears were drying up despite himself.  
  
"Yes - I'm really going to leave Goldeen. Only because you won't believe I'll come back," she grinned at him for the first time. It was a sweet smile full of open honesty and all of his trust poured out as he returned the smile.  
  
"You wouldn't give me your Goldeen...unless you were coming back, right?" He questioned timidly. Misty nodded and Mark's smile grew larger.  
  
"Where can I hide my Goldeen? Someplace where the guards will never think to look at," she asked and Mark immediately tried to move towards the bed.  
  
"Under here - under the bed. There is a loose wooden plank where you can safely put Goldeen." Mark and Misty lifted the heavy mattress (though Mark couldn't help too much) and she returned Goldeen back into her Poke Ball and hid it under the plank. They put the disgusting mattress back to its normal place.  
  
They both stared at each other's eyes for a long moment. Mark couldn't believe there was someone he could count on. It made his heart beat a little bit faster in merriment.  
  
Misty turned towards the door and smiled once again. "I won't be back tomorrow, or the day after - and maybe not for a while. But I will come back," she assured him.   
  
Mark took one long look at her before she closed the door. But Mark was confident she was coming back - that hope was planted firmly in his heart. He went over to the bed and laid on its repugnant long mattress. But he was smiling in pure blessedness. Mark finally had something to cling expectedly, something to fill him with delight in the horrible nights to come.  
  
And that night he slept well. Only filled with serene dreams.   
  
~~~  
  
Misty smiled to herself after she closed the door quietly. Mark was in a much better state of mind now, and she was sure that he would remain like that with Goldeen at his side. She hoped that Goldeen wouldn't get too angry at her for thinking that Misty abandoned her. Goldeen was the thin lifeline Mark had now and she trusted Goldeen at that task.  
  
Misty trusted him. She didn't know why, but she did. Even if the man had evil intentions to keep Goldeen he couldn't escape by himself out of his cell. But despite the possible consequences, Misty knew that Goldeen was in good hands.  
  
She got the keys out of her pocket and locked the door as quietly as she could. If the police knew that it was unlocked when they went to Mark's cell they would be immediately suspicious.  
  
Misty got out of white-walled room and also locked it softly. She was about to head for the stairs when she heard some voices that made her freeze.  
  
"It's dinnertime Bob! Bring the cart over to Sebastian's cell. Pick the most unappealing plate you got - I hate that bastard." One of the policemen that had come out of the farthest door on the hallway, called over to his friend who was on the other side of it.  
  
Misty his behind the plant she had been earlier. Fear took over her as she saw the still unconscious police officer she knocked out earlier. If he woke up or the other policemen saw him...she was finished.  
  
One police guy had a cart with racks of plates filled with food. The one who was waiting for his friend picked up one of the plates with his hand and chuckled so loudly that even Misty could hear. He took out some keys and opened one of the rooms that - Misty thought - would lead to Sebastian's room. The man with the cart followed him inside.  
  
This was Misty's chance and was about to head to the stairs when another sound stunned her more than the police officers at the end of the hallway.  
  
"Ugg...uhh - my head..." the police cop that was unconscious moments before was returning back to consciousness. His eyes opened a bit and had a glazy gaze to it.  
  
"Is that you Margaret?" the policeman asked Misty, who obviously couldn't see well right away.  
  
Misty sprinted up the stairs before he could get a good look at her. Fear and anxiety propelled her with extra speed. After she went up all those stairs, Misty was back again to the room with the stairs. She could go outside , there were more doors and possibilities of escape in the hallway - but police officers could be swarming right outside. Misty couldn't go down - obviously. There was only one choice - go upstairs.  
  
Misty was aware that there could be cops upstairs, but she believed that she had a better chance that in the hallway. She took each step with careful slowness and after a while Misty was finally upstairs.  
  
There was another long hallway (to Misty's bad fortune) but without any doors except one that was all the way in the back.   
  
Misty carefully walked, her footsteps echoed throughout the whole hallway to her ears, and went over to the door and opened it with mounting trepidation. It was a large office - but Misty didn't have time to check it out. The only important thing was that no one was there. But a muffled conversation of the other side of a door Misty didn't notice before, corrected her.  
  
It was too muffled to eavesdrop but she could make out 'Goldenrod' as one of the words. But that didn't matter. Only two things were of importance now: 1)Find an exit.2) Hope the man keeps talking.3) Escape.  
  
Misty desperately went to one of the windows - maybe she could jump out if it wasn't too high.  
  
Misty looked down and with alarm she noted that it was a 20-feet drop. She would never make it - unless...   
  
"Staryu, go." she called out in a whisper. Staryu was about to say something when Misty silenced him desperately.  
  
"Quiet Staryu. If they hear us we're done for." She whispered angrily. Misty pointed the long drop. "Could you descend us slowly with your Water Gun attack? It's going to be tough but I have faith in your abilities." Staryu shone his ruby in happiness. "I'll jump out of the window grabbing hold on you and you'll use your Water Gun on the wall outside next to the window to propel us as far away as possible. Then, use it on the ground to slow our descent. It's going to be hard - but I'm counting on you."  
  
Misty opened the window as noiselessly as possible. She looked down again and had to fight her nausea; she was afraid of heights. Misty took a strong grip on Staryu and faced her back to the window so Staryu could shoot his Water Gun to the wall of the building. The night air was cool against her sweaty skin and the moon shone the ground with an eerie light. With a great amount of bravery she never knew she had - Misty jumped.   
  
Her yell was loud enough to wake up the dead, but Staryu was ready. He pointed his Water Gun to the wall on the right side of the window and with a blast of powerful, clear water they were shot backwards 30 feet away from the building. The air whipped around Misty's hair like a strong hurricane until it stopped suddenly.  
  
They began to fall to the ground; the floor was getting too large and Misty, in her frightened state of mind, was closing her eyes in a dazed trance - not considering the danger she was putting herself in by doing that. The abrupt stop to the fall woke Misty up to her senses. Staryu had used its Water Gun on the floor below, slowing their descent, but after a few seconds, its red ruby was soon sparkling on and off dangerously and his Water Gun was weakening with each second.  
  
Misty wanted to say encouraging words to him but her mind and mouth were no longer linked at that second. Her horror had numbed her brain completely - Misty couldn't even scream. Through her numbness, Misty could see the fatigue took its call on Staryu and he stopped in exhaustion.  
  
Misty's mind ceased to work and black nothingness filled her vision. She was unconscious for a second or two until she hit the floor. Misty landed on her arm, that with a resounding sound, cracked under her whole body weight, including the impact of the fall. Some of her ribs on her right side - the side in which she fell on, split in two. Staryu fell alongside her on his ruby and she tried to call him through her painful daze. Maybe his ruby shattered - she couldn't see through all the blur of colors.   
  
After she landed on her arm and cracked some of her ribs, she began rolling down. Sharp rocks cut through her clothing and split her skin into deep wounds. The ground itself was unforgiving and scratched all of Misty's body like sharp knives. Dust filled her nostrils until she couldn't breathe properly. Her head crashed through several rocks, at least that's what it felt like. The swirl of colors - though red was the principal one, was nauseating to Misty and unconsciousness was like some kind of unreachable prize. After several agonizing seconds of rolling down, she laid on a broken heap at the bottom of the hill.   
  
Misty tried to open her eyes but it was too difficult. Her eyes watered as dirt entered her aquamarine eyes. She felt as if a bulldozer went over her several times to make sure every single bone in her body was broken. Her cloudy eyes could note a lot of red around her. The red was so painful...she wanted it to stop hurting her. Misty's eye sight grew a bit clearer and she could see that the red color was all her blood that was seeping from her chest and arm. The broken bones were explicitly agonizing and breathing was a very hard task. Apparently destiny didn't favor her by bringing her blissful unconsciousness, something that she wanted desperately.   
  
With trembling arms, she was able to lift her body enough to see where Staryu was. Staryu was surrounded by millions of sparkling ruby-red pieces that shone in the moonlight. He wasn't moving.   
  
Misty wanted to ask him if he was ok, but her vocal chords weren't working properly. Misty had enough energy to raise her good arm and point the Poke Ball to where Staryu lay wounded. "Return," she managed to croak. Staryu didn't say anything when he was enveloped in a bright red light. Now Misty had one less thing to worry about.   
  
She tried to stand up, but Misty's feet seemed to be made of jelly and she had to lean against a tree to regain her energies and breath.   
  
The Pokemon Center was a long way off and in her current state it seemed to be millions and millions of miles away. Misty walked sluggishly to a road that she thought led to the Pokemon Center. Her blood dripped down her yellow shirt and soaked her blue shorts. Yet through her dim mind, Misty didn't worry about it - like it was just red paint splattered accidentally on her clothes.  
  
Misty occasionally grabbed a nearby tree trunk to regain her balance. The world was made of swirls and the darkness of night didn't help her. Was she going the right way or not? The path split into three more roads - that was strange, since Misty thought she had taken a single road. Misty looked up wearily at the sky and saw more stars than usual, and didn't Earth have only one moon? About 6 moons were up tonight, and this made Misty laugh. She didn't know why - it wasn't even funny, but she was laughing hysterically, which made the pain in her ribs almost to unbearable levels. She looked up again and saw even more stars than the last time she looked up and the moons kept moving around in circles. Misty laughed even more - she didn't know moons could move.  
  
Misty chose one of the dozen roads that kept moving, but it was sort of fun to follow them. Misty was absolutely sure she was going the right way. Why would the road multiply and move like that if they weren't trying to show her the right way? And the little black, dancing spots also were helpful in showing her the right path. But they kept moving and getting larger each minute that Misty didn't know where to follow them.  
  
Cold sweat was breaking on her forehead and the black spots were getting bigger and bigger and were almost obscuring her whole vision. They were being way too helpful for Misty's taste.   
  
Then Misty realized what kind of aid the black spots were trying to give her. These black spots were attempting to bring her to unconsciousness.  
  
And Misty accepted their help.  
  
***  
  
9:22 P.M  
  
"I think 20 of our men will suffice, don't you think?" Cassidy asked Butch, as she flipped her long blue hair over her shoulder. The things she had to do to gain money, but she smiled secretly to herself - attacking the local Pokemon Center was going to be very simple. With the hologram projector that will cover their backs and their group of professional, personally chosen Rockets will make this mission easier than taking candy from a baby.  
  
"I still say that we bring more of our men just to be on the safe side. Who knows how many Pokemon trainers are staying at the Pokemon Center tonight?" Butch said for the millionth time. Butch's advices to stay on the safe side were starting to annoy Cassidy. Stay on the safe side...they had had hundreds of other missions that were much harder than this one - yet this was the first time Butch recommended precaution tips. That was strange coming Butch since he was an action-now-questions-later type of guy and never really planned on any mission - that was the job of the strategy counselor.  
  
"What's up with you Butch? You've been saying the same thing over and over again for the last hour. What's the matter Butch, you've never been this way." Cassidy prodded him for an answer. It was bewildering to her that Butch wore a worried expression on his face - he only showed it if the mission they were in was failing - never before one.  
  
Butch bit his lip nervously - now Cassidy was the one to look troubled. Butch had never done that.  
  
"Well...I just have this feeling that this attack won't be as uncomplicated as it seems," Butch bit his lip even harder and furrowed his brow. Very weird.  
  
"How hard can an invasion to the Pokemon Center be?" Cassidy asked exasperatedly. "Even if there were many trainers sleeping tonight in the Pokemon Center, our hand-picked members could easily take them out with their high level Pokemon. We have more than the necessary equipment to take about 100 ordinary Pokemon trainers. I still don't see what you worry about, Butch. We had so many other missions that were much harder than this simple task. You know...to tell you the truth Butch, you're acting like a wimp - and I've always hated wimps," Cassidy sneered, knowing that her remark will bring Butch back to his old self.  
  
Butch snapped his head rapidly, mouth open ready to retort, but he changed his mind in the last second and closed it. Butch never passed the opportunity to throw Cassidy a witty remark and this just incremented Cassidy's worries for him - not like she'd ever admit that she was preoccupied about him. That would be incredibly degrading.  
  
"Let's just go check that everything's ready - shall we, Cassidy?" And without any other word Butch went to the other room. He was really getting to Cassidy's nerves today. She knew Butch was just being paranoid, but the point was...Butch was never paranoid.  
  
Cassidy went to the room Butch just went in and closed the door quietly. The room was very different from the other one Cassidy and Butch had been moments before. The size of it was pretty small in comparison to the official meeting room in the Team Rocket headquarters, nevertheless, it was still one of the biggest rooms in that particular Blackthorn headquarter. This was the 'Ammo Room' as the rest of the members named.   
  
It was filled with shelves and shelves with every kind of gun in every imaginable shape. Boxes of explosives were stacked in huge numbers. There were more potent weapons, but they were placed in another room next to the 'Ammo Room'. The titanium door was five inches thick with a big 'KEEP OUT. DANGEROUS. DO NOT ENTER UNLESS YOU HAVE PERMISSION' sign placed next to it. There was also a diminutive, metallic, round-shaped machine that resembled an eyehole that scanned the eye of the person who wanted to enter. If you didn't have permission, but placed your eye anyway, the little machine shot you with a strong electrical current directly to your eyes that spread throughout your body. It would leave you blind for about four days and temporary nerve damage.   
  
There were approximately about 20 members inside the Ammo Room. The people who were assigned personally by Butch and Cassidy for this *easy* task - well at least in Cassidy's opinion.  
  
Each member had to carry one small pistol with him or her for protection. But they could only use it in a very extreme situation they couldn't escape from. They were forbidden to kill anybody - if people turned up dead at the Pokemon Center from one day to the other without any witnesses seeing anything unusual from outside, the police would surely begin to investigate and possibly find the Blackthorn Team Rocket headquarters.   
  
The 20 members had the usual weapons with them. Smoke grenades, Grappling Hooks, Unbreakable Nets, Sleeping Gas, Specialized masks to prevent inhaling smoke, Tranquilizer Darts, Clubs, Night Vision Goggles, Sprays, Light-Sensitive Glasses etc...Along with the uniforms they always wore on any task. The suits were all Water-proof, Shock-proof, Fire-proof, though they were simplest of Team Rocket uniform. They were now wearing it - but it was more than enough. But there were more modern uniforms that were reserved for missions with a level of more difficulty.   
  
Butch was the only member who was carrying more than the necessary equipment - it made Cassidy even more irritated. He was carrying extra of all the usual weapons with some additional ones like Paralysis Bombs, Some real explosives (Cassidy thought it was too exaggerated) and some other stuff she didn't know about.  
  
"Line up, now!" Cassidy ordered in a demanding voice, once she was sure everybody got all they needed.  
  
Everyone immediately lined up in a straight line. They all tried to look perfectly passive and to stay as humanly still. Butch stood alongside Cassidy in total silence. She went over to the first member who was trembling slightly. In other occasions she wouldn't have even thought about bringing trash like him, but she was also responsible for the training of the new Rocket Cadets - anyway, this mission was simple enough.  
  
"Do you have Smoke Grenades, Cadet?" she barked at him. He flinched at her scream, and showed her some smoke grenades in a special backpack. Cassidy continued to order him to show every item he was supposed to carry and approved much to the Cassidy's amazement. After she checked him, Cassidy went to check every member. Almost everyone had everything with them, except two idiots that forgot some of the essential and almost wet their pants at Cassidy's screams.  
  
"Now that we're all set, my companion will kindly show you how exactly we're going to enter the Pokemon Center, Butch?" And without a word he took out a large picture of the Pokemon Center with signs and symbols scrawled all over it.  
  
"Ok, this is what we're going to do. The Pokemon Center security will be very easy to pass, but what we need to worry about is how to enter without being noticed by passersby. This is also quite simple but it is also the hardest part since we have some rookie Rockets among us..." and she sneered in their direction. "I also hope that you've all changed you appearances like me and Butch did. It is essential in case the police find us, though Blackthorn policemen are known to be one of the worse trained in capturing criminals and they don't have a scientific lab to investigate complicated clues at a close range. They are also known to be corrupt...only a few of these-," Cassidy held up several dollar bills. "- and they can drop the case. But better be safe than sorry I always safe." Butch snorted very loudly at this, some Rocket members tried to - unsuccessfully - hide their laughter. Cassidy's anger at Butch was almost about to be released but she contained herself.  
  
She coughed loudly to regain their attention. It caught their attention fully - like her cough was a gun going off. Their muffled laughter ceased and they immediately fell silently. Cassidy had to smile despite herself - she loved the control she had over them.  
  
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by all of you - " Many of them gulped in fear as she said this. " - It would be pretty easy to do this, even to the new Team Rocket members. But we must not fail this mission. We have sources that a rare Pokemon with extraordinary powers resides inside of the Pokemon Center." Cassidy wasn't actually telling them the truth, yet it wasn't a complete lie. She supposed the thing that will overpower Giovanni had to be a powerful Pokemon. What else could it possibly be?  
  
"We arrive from a normal van and then, we will enter from the roof of the Pokemon Center. There is an unprotected window with no security whatsoever. Then I bet there is a simple burglar alarm installed near the main desk - our most experienced members should know how to find it and deactivate it..." If they failed in this particular task...Cassidy would personally punish them severely. "...We have to go to a room where they keep all the Pokemon in their PokeBalls. All marked with its gender, species and trainer so they won't mix up - too foolish if I say so myself. There should be the PokeBall with the Pokemon we're looking for inside. If not, then we have no choice than waking up each trainer and making them show us their Pokemon - I do hope we don't get to that extreme, even if our Pokemon could handle them single-handedly. We get out with our Grappling Hooks through the same window and escape from the van. There is a secret passageway from the ground that will activate only with Team Rocket vehicles, it will scan the tires and let us in, directly back to our Headquarters. Any questions?" She arched her eyebrows upwards in silent question. A pestering guy raised his hand.  
  
"What is it?" Cassidy couldn't contain her annoyance in check.   
  
"Well...how come we didn't have more preparations? We should've planned something this big at least a whole day. But we had only less than two hours to prepare everything. Don't you think that's a bit rash?" The bold guy asked while others muttered silently, asking themselves the same questions and wondering if Cassidy would punish the man.  
  
She looked at him like he was something that came out of a garbage can. "We have a temporary Hologram Projection Device that will conceal us only for today and will not work tomorrow or any other time other than tonight - I think it's unnecessary to plan for such a length of time when the principal part of our operation has been placed before. Is there another question in mind?" she asked in a voice full of thinly-veiled irritation.  
  
"Err...no, ma'am," the guy said in a very low, puny voice, contrasting with the bold question he asked a second earlier.  
  
"Very well. As there's no more questions I think the mission should start immediately." Cassidy motioned them to get to their positions. Their was a bustle of hurried footsteps and the silent obedience of the Rockets. Once everyone had left behind except Cassidy and Butch, she immediately turned her head in his direction.  
  
"Are you coming or not?" she questioned him icily and left the room. Butch followed her soon after, but just before snarling in affirmation to her question.  
  
Everyone arrived at an underground station that made the room they were previously in look like a broom cupboard. Its gigantic proportions held many Team Rocket cars and vehicles of different sizes. A small lake was at the left part of the station where there were several motorboats. The lake extended to a small, dark cave where Cassidy couldn't see beyond. The boats were only used on evacuation of the whole building in case an emergency of great magnitude happened. It was an underground river that led directly to Lake Rage where the nearest hidden base was.  
  
There were also jets and planes that varied in power and size. They used it on missions that needed to be done in long distances. They used a special camouflage technology 'Shadow Stealth' to fly undetected by any kind of radar and it also offered almost complete invisibility from any civilian.  
  
But they were going to use a seemingly normal van that had enough space to accommodate everyone inside. Cassidy and the rest of them would obviously be a little squeezed-up, but that was just a minor inconvenience that would've bothered her in a mission with less importance.  
  
The van didn't have any special trait except the tire-scan that every Team Rocket vehicle had. It was a bit big, yes, but the van looked like a toy van compared to the other more advanced methods of transportation.   
  
Cassidy decided to let Butch drive for this mission, despite his worrying state of mind he was in now - at least in her opinion.  
  
Butch opened the back doors of the van. "Everyone inside." He commanded.  
  
Everybody awkwardly entered inside and tried to find a space to seat themselves. They were all squished together trying to stay still in case any weapon in their bags would go off unexpectedly. Butch went inside to the driver's seat and Cassidy seated herself beside him in the front seat. He took out a silver key from his pocket and placed it in the ignition.  
  
The van began to rumble and Butch pressed the gas pedal and they were off. A long ramp was descending from a hatch on the ceiling that led outdoors. It usually was closed so the street would look normal, but opened up like this so Team Rocket vehicles could go outside. Butch checked a small radar that was alongside the steering wheel.  
  
"No civilian or Pokemon that can see us near this area," Butch said in a monotone voice. Cassidy nodded silently while the van went up the ramp. Once they were outside the ramp began to close up and the street looked as perfectly normal as if there weren't something strange beneath it at all.  
  
The Pokemon Center was not far away from here, it would take only minutes to get there. Everyone was silent while Butch drove at a moderate speed so he wouldn't attract attention. The few civilians that did see them while Butch drove never stopped the van, because of fear or lack of observation, it didn't matter. Butch was driving in secluded streets were not many people lived, and it led directly to the back of the Pokemon Center. Once they finally arrived to their destination Butch quietly got out and opened the back door of the van.  
  
They got out one by one as noiselessly as possible and hid behind a large bush near the wall. Cassidy also got out and took out a grappling hook from her pocket. Everyone including Butch also took one from their backpack. Cassidy pointed it to a ledge on the roof and pressed a button on the grappling hook. A steel object with four, sharp points that was tied around with a long rope, pierced through the wall. Cassidy checked that it would safely stay where it was and would support all her body weight. She grabbed the rope firmly with both of her hands and placed her feet firmly on the wall. The other members and Butch did the same as her. She began climbing up the wall, planting her feet firmly with each step she took upwards. Her hands were starting to ache and blister but she ignored the pain.   
  
Finally, all of them got to the top of the Pokemon Center and surely, there was a wide window there where they could easily enter.  
  
"I'm sure that the hologram projector is working properly so I don't think we need to be cautious anymore," Butch said to some members who were on their stomach crawling slowly. When they heard this, they stood up and dusted themselves off.  
  
"Ok, now this is when the action starts," Cassidy grinned to herself and went to the window. She looked down through the glass and Cassidy could only see the reception desk and some seats. She placed her light-sensitive glasses and turned them on. There was no sign of any red security beams on the window or near the reception desk. She took them off and gave a thumbs-up sign to her team mates.  
  
They all came near the window and Butch took out a small blade that could cut glass without shattering it. Cassidy grabbed it roughly from his grasp and gently cut a circle in the glass big enough to go through it - backpacks and all. She grasped the transparent glass and placed it beside her.   
  
There was a pole near them - perfect for the next step.  
  
Cassidy grabbed a rope from her backpack and tied it around the pole. She tied the other end of the rope around her with several knots. Cassidy went to the window again and lowered herself gently through the hole. She landed inside with a loud thump which she cursed herself inwardly. Soon, Butch was alongside Cassidy and the rest of the members followed their example.  
  
They untied the knots once they were totally inside. The Pokemon Center was dark and it was completely silent except for the light snoring of an extremely fat Chansey, and strangely, no egg on her pouch. Cassidy turned her back on the freak and motioned with her hands to Butch. He nodded once and took out a tranquilizer gun. He pressed on the trigger and a small syringe-type of thing filled with a blue fluid sunk into Chansey's thick skin. The blue liquid entered into Chansey's body and she slumped to the floor in an unnatural sleep.  
  
Like if on cue, a guy with long, blond hair brought out a small laptop. He began typing at a fast speed for several minutes which Cassidy very impatient. Then with a small beep the burglar alarm was deactivated. He smiled smugly and placed his laptop back to his backpack.  
  
Everyone took out their night vision goggles and entered a small doorway labeled 'STAFF ONLY'. On the right side, there was the Emergency Room where they operated the Pokemon; on the far right side there was a room full of medication and bandages. On the left side of them there was a door with no name on it and Cassidy deduced it was Nurse Joy's bedroom. She smirked to herself - maybe one of the perverted guys would like to go there afterwards. And then there was the room they were looking for. The Pokemon Storage Room.  
  
It was locked. Cassidy huffed in annoyance. One small, freckly member took out a small machine that glowed green in the darkness - the Door Opening Device. He placed it on the door knob and after several seconds the door instantly opened with a creak.   
  
There were shelves and shelves of PokeBalls that were all labeled. Everyone began to look at each label. Cassidy grinded her teeth in frustration. Caterpies? Squirtles? Kakunas?! They were all worthless. Some members stared at each other quizzically, silently questioning themselves with their gaze. Some Rockets stuffed some PokeBalls they thought were worth something. But there was no exceptional PokeBall there. The strongest Pokemon they found was a Gyarados that was from a kid from Mahogany.  
  
"Guess we have to wake up the trainers," one of the Rockets whispered to another. Cassidy sighed in defeat and anger when a frightened voice interrupted the silence.  
  
"Wha-wha...what are you do- " Nurse Joy was cut off by a long cloth that made her gag. One of the Rockets had been behind her and was currently tying her hands with wire. Nurse Joy tried to resist but more men surrounded her and tied up her body with wire, rope or tape. Her eyes filled with piteous tears as she tried to shout for help through the cloth in her mouth.  
  
"Lock her up in a closet or something. And don't do anything funny - we have no time for your little games," Cassidy snapped to them while they took Nurse Joy away.  
  
"What do we do now, Cassidy?" asked one of the new Team Rocket cadets. Normally Cassidy punished anybody who spoke to her with informality, but she was too distracted by more important matters than that.  
  
"I think it's time to wake up the sleepy-heads," she said in a voice full of malicious delight. That was their cue as everyone ran to the main reception room. The guys that locked Nurse Joy in a closet also came, but they had disturbing smiles on their faces. Cassidy didn't even want to know what they did to Nurse Joy.  
  
Once everyone was back where the unconscious Chansey was, they moved to the other corridor where the trainers were sleeping.   
  
"To hell with sneakiness." Cassidy said to Butch. With a sigh, he took out some red dynamite sticks and placed it at a safe distance from the rooms; they wanted to wake up the trainers - not kill them, though it would've been fun to blow them sky high.  
  
Butch had a matchstick in his hand and he rapidly lit them all up as fast as he could. The fuse was long but he still needed to light every single one rapidly.  
  
Everyone went as far away from the dynamite sticks as they could; some behind the long reception desk, some cowards actually went outside but still near enough to the Pokemon Center, a strange girl hid behind a plant pot. Everyone went to the nearest cover.  
  
Cassidy was behind the reception desk with several Rocket teammates. Butch soon joined her, out of breath but just as anticipated as Cassidy.  
  
"Wakey, wakey..." Cassidy whispered under her breath, just when the dynamites exploded in a hot, powerful mass of fire and destruction.  
  
***  
  
10:01 P.M  
  
Ash was tired, dizzy, dirty, sick and had a fat Persian on his lap when the plane miraculously arrived on the Blackthorn Airport. His whole flight consisted in one vomiting session after another that never seemed to end. The old lady was the only one who didn't mind the lingering smell of waste - she actually said it reminded her of the smell of the beach in Vermillion City. Ash wondered if the beaches of Vermillion City were made of pee, poop and vomit.  
  
Hey, it had been a while since he was in Vermillion City.  
  
The flight back to Blackthorn was even more uncomfortable than the flight to Pallet. Ash, Pikachu and Shashooka had learned the awful truth in this trip - there were no bathrooms in this plane.   
  
Shashooka had eaten so many rotten Magikarps that he was the first one to be beaten by mother nature. Shashooka wanted to go to a corner, but apparently he couldn't resist that much since the corner was pretty far away and he peed right in front of Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu had moaned at that, reminding him his need to do his necessities. Pikachu had ran behind the Magikarp boxes - thankfully Ash couldn't see this little act. Pikachu had returned with a sigh of satisfaction that disturbed Ash greatly.   
  
The whole plane smelled a whole pack of Donphans had peed, pooped, vomited and then covered themselves with lots of garbage. But nope, the smell was just from a kid, an electric mouse, and an overly fat cat.   
  
Ash couldn't help it to retch that much. The bowl he had used for his vomit bouts was already filled to the brim with his liquid lunch. The old lady *did* give them lunch - fried fish. It reminded Ash too much like the horrid-smelling Magikarp so he declined as politely as he could (it was quite difficult since Ash at that moment wanted to make the old lady suffer like he was).   
  
Instead, Ash ate the squashed blueberry pie his grandma gave him. He had to eat it with his eyes and nose closed, so he couldn't see or smell the revolting plane.  
  
After he ate the whole pie he decided to remain in the position he used to eat his pie. But his lack of oxygen made him breath the nauseating air. The smell reached his nose with such intensity it made his eye pop open - and that's when he couldn't ignore the repugnant material on the floor. His pie that was in his stomach began to sickeningly move up his esophagus. Before Ash could have stopped it, his once delicious blueberry pie had come out with a splat that didn't differentiate with the rest of the floor.  
  
Shashooka, attracted to the squishy blueberry pie, sniffed it once, and not caring that it had come from Ash's stomach, swallowed everything with one lick. But after half an hour the blueberry pie took the toll that the rotten Magikarp could not on Shashooka. Ash really tried to avoid it, he really did but Shashooka was too sick to do anything - and the Persian threw up everything, Magikarp scales and all on Ash. And with a small meow that resembled that of a small Meowth, Shashooka slumped on Ash's lap, unconscious.  
  
Ash didn't have the heart to wake Shashooka up, even if he smelled like an overused bathroom. So Shashooka spent almost the whole trip like this. Ash didn't tell the old woman of Shashooka's current condition; he knew that the old lady would have a heart attack and forget to control the whole plane.  
  
They finally landed on the ground after five hours of extreme suffering. Ash tried to wake Shashooka up but that didn't prove too successful. Next, he tried to haul Shashooka's heavy body, though it was harder than he thought. Shashooka, sleepily licked Ash's face and he had to control the urge to gag. The smell of Magikarp and vomit combined almost left Ash in the same state as Shashooka. Ash had only one option left - tell the old lady about Shashooka.  
  
They were already on the ground so Ash didn't have to worry about falling to his grave. With a sigh of resignation, Ash opened his mouth to speak to her.  
  
"Uh...old lady, err...sir - I mean ma'am..." Ash didn't want to insult the crazy woman. She turned around and looked directly into his eyes.   
  
"Call me Adriana, sonny...Charming ladies my age don't like to feel old," she grinned crookedly, that was just before Adriana noticed her precious Persian sprawled across Ash's lap with his tongue out.  
  
"AHHHHH! What did you do to Shashooka?!!?!" She screamed and launched herself at Ash. Adriana didn't attack him but roughly grabbed Shashooka from Ash's grip with amazing strength.  
  
"Shashooka! Can you hear me, sweetie?!" The old lady asked him desperately. Shashooka slowly opened his eyes. Once he saw who was making such racket, he opened his mouth in a wide yawn and went back to sleep.   
  
"Oh, you're all right!!!" She cried gleefully and hugged Shashooka. The poor Persian's eyes bulged out from their sockets and he started to thrash around, trying to escape the old lady's iron grip hug.  
  
After the old woman stopped crushing poor Shashooka, to the Persian's immense relief, she stared at Ash with furious eyes.   
  
"Wha - I swear I didn't do anything, honest!" Ash frantically told her. The old woman got closer to Ash, and he could once again smell her foul onion breath. Adriana glared at him suspiciously for some time, until Ash couldn't handle her breath any more and turned his head the other way to breathe properly.   
  
The elderly woman immediately smiled in triumph. "HA! The guilt finally got to you. Now spit it out you mangy mongrel!" She pointed an accusing finger at him. Ash felt indignant and angry at that remark, so it wasn't all his fault when the next words escaped his mouth.  
  
"I said I didn't do anything, you stupid old bat! Your Persian just ate something that he shouldn't, though I'm not surprised at his condition - with all that disgusting fish you have onboard!" Ash yelled, not considering the old woman's reaction.  
  
*Now* Adriana was mad. She scooped Shashooka in one arm and the other one was placed in her bony hip.   
  
"How dare you say such things to me you dirty brat!" She shrieked and without any warning, she picked Ash by the collar of his jacket and grabbed Pikachu - who had passed out just like Shashooka - with her other hand.  
  
Ash didn't have time to reply because the old woman threw the both of them out of the plane. Thankfully, they had landed a bit earlier but the fall on hard concrete was still as hard as ever.  
  
"And don't ever come back!" She yelled from inside the plane and a pitiful meow soon followed after that remark. Ash wanted to insult her some more but he would cause more trouble than it was worth. Pikachu woke up brusquely from his fall, but when he opened his eyes Pikachu's face turned an ugly shade of green so he had to close his eyes until Pikachu was sure his stomach's contents were in the right place.  
  
Ash placed an almost unconscious Pikachu on top of his hat and began walking towards the old airport he had been on almost 24 hours ago. The smell of moss and dust reached his nostrils when he opened the splintering, rotten door. The same lazy police woman he met hours before was still painting her nails, but instead of painting her nails magenta she was painting them a lime green color.  
  
"Ah, back so soon?" The police woman stared at him with a hint of interest in her dull, brown eyes. Her jeans were covered in shiny lime nail polish along with several spots of magenta Ash had seen before.  
  
"Yeah," Ash replied simply without another comment. The boredom in the policewoman's eyes returned immediately after his remark, knowing that Ash wouldn't say anything more entertaining.  
  
"Just go through the metal detector, sir," she ordered uninterestedly. Her nails were even more sloppily painted than the other time. She didn't bother removing the magenta nail polish she had painted on and just added the lime nail polish on top of it creating a greenish-brown sort of color.  
  
Ash went through the metal detector that didn't beep this time either, though he was still carrying some coins and a metal key chain. The policewoman didn't give Ash any more interest until he accidentally bumped against her lime nail polish bottle that was near the edge of a small table. The bottle crashed into a thousand glass shards and splattered the police woman's boots.  
  
"Damn it!" She cursed at him, wiping some of the nail polish off her boots with her uniform. Ash hurriedly crossed the room and went to the exit without even offering an apology.  
  
When he was finally outside the airport, Ash sighed with relief. No more monsters and rotten fish. No more vomiting fits or long-lost Persians. No more rundown airports or lazy cops. No more broken nail polish bottles and Pallet Mountains. No more secrets and strange behavior. And best of all...  
  
No more crazy pilots.  
  
Ash grinned to himself. Finally he was back to Blackthorn and his worries finally were behind him. These were Ash's thoughts until he remembered why he came back. Worry was once again planted onto his heart when he remembered reading the newspaper article. 12 people died in a horrible fire a lunatic lit up with gasoline. Thankfully, the guy was safely locked up in a cell, because if Ash ever saw the bastard he would personally kill him.   
  
Ash knew Misty and Brock were ok. They *had* to be ok. Just the thought that his two best friends were hurt made him want to scream. But still, the fire wasn't too far from the Pokemon Center and they could've easily gone for a walk that morning...Ash stopped this trail of thought and almost slapped himself. They were fine and safe inside the Pokemon Center, sleeping soundly in their beds. Period.  
  
A cab was driving slowly near Ash, so he called it over. A gruff-looking cabdriver opened the backdoor and Ash entered nervously.  
  
"To the Pokemon Center across Maufield Roa-" Ash was cut off by the cabdriver.  
  
"There's only one Pokemon Center in Blackthorn, kid," he said snappishly while he stepped on the gas pedal.  
  
"Uh...nice night, eh?" Ash tried to converse to the cab driver, when he felt the cabdriver's eyes on him. The cabdriver grunted in response and continued driving.  
  
Ash scratched behind Pikachu's ears as he looked at the passing scenery. It was mostly a dark blur of trees until they reached the main part of the city. He saw few people out on the streets and all of the stores were closed for the day except a supermarket that flashed a neon sign 'OPEN ALL DAY'.  
  
Something caught his eyes when they were passing the Police Headquarters. An immobile figure that resembled the silhouette of a human was partly hidden by a shrub. He was just able to catch a glimpse of orange that was reflected by the moonlight before he lost sight of it. Ash was about to ask the cabdriver to stop but his anxiousness for the well-being of his friends got the better of him.   
  
Twenty minutes passed before Ash could see the Pokemon Center at a distance. The cab drove nearer and nearer until it stopped at the entrance. Just when Ash was getting out and paying the respective amount of money to the cabdriver something horrible happened. The normal-looking Pokemon Center changed in a blink of an eye.  
  
Ash's eyes widened. Huge clouds of smoke obscured most of the Pokemon Center roof, and through the thick gray smoke Ash could see a large hole that showed trainers sprawled on the ground or others bravely fighting against-  
  
Team Rocket?!  
  
"Call the police! Team Rocket is attacking the Pokemon Center!!!" Ash shouted frantically at the perplexed cabdriver. "Don't you understand?!?!" Ash yelled desperately when the cabdriver didn't do anything.  
  
"Crazy kid, are you drunk or something?" The cabdriver snorted before he drove out of sight, ignoring Ash's furious cries.  
  
"Let's go inside Pikachu," Ash said fearlessly, though Ash dreaded how he would find Misty and Brock. Pikachu quizzically stared at him, then at the Pokemon Center before visibly shrugging. Why didn't anyone see how the Pokemon Center was?!  
  
With an affirmative, "Pika!" Ash and Pikachu entered the Pokemon Center, but the sight that greeted them made them want to rename the building to a more suitable name.  
  
Devil's Hole.  
  
*************  
  
ARGH! I had to cut the chapter once again! I realized that if I didn't it would be more than 18,000 words. I just realized how huge this story is going to be... Please, please, PLEASE! I beg you! Review!!! This takes me a long while to write. I only got 1 review for the other chapter *cries* I know I sound pathetic but it doesn't take long to review. Ok, on with the good soul who reviewed me! :)  
  
lil_washu2: If it weren't for you I would've probably sulked all week! Thanks for the review!!! And to calm your fears...No, I won't do AAML just because everyone else writes it. I liked the shipping for 2 and a half years. Anyway as much as I love it, in this fic it may not end with that pairing. It will contain AAML but I've just thought up some new evil things that could occur in the plot. So it's possible that that couple will not be together at the end ...*cue malicious laughter* 


	5. Devil's Hole

**Disclaimer:** Err...I'm not sure if I own Pokemon or not. Wait a sec, I'm going to check my bank account...Hmm, nope. Pokemon doesn't belong to me.  
  
**Author Notes:** Sorry this chapter took such a loooooong time and I really don't have any excuses I can say, so I owe you guys (to the very few who are still reading this, though it's my fault) a humongous apology. I also apologize for the petty whining on the bottom of chapter 4, I'm very sorry.   
  
On another note, I'm going to rewrite the first chapter (and maybe the second and third) because of the appalling grammar mistakes.  
  
This is the chapter where the 'R' rating really comes into play. If you think it deserves a lower rating please tell me so in a review (though I think this chapter earned the right to keep it).  
  
** Devil's Hole**  
  
The abhorrence would come here.  
  
That wretched, vile thing was going to arrive soon.  
  
She was sure of it.  
  
She knew her simple plan was going to work. That foul slug was still naïve just like the last time she had seen the idiot. The ignorant, pathetic insect would come right into her awaiting claws and suffer the way she did.  
  
She had asked for help and that fucking girl laughed at her face. That damned girl had enjoyed her painful tears as she struggled to escape the confines of her prison. That evil bitch had smiled at her pleading cries of help and watched her waste away into the emotionless empty shell of a person she was now.  
  
And finally...after so many years...  
  
She would get her revenge.  
  
Oh, how she was going to enjoy watching the demon's blood running through her fingers. She would pleasure the way that putrid bug was going to beg, no - plead - for mercy and ask her to end her miserable life. And she would simply laugh at her spasms of agony and excruciating tears.   
  
Until that final blessed moment she had been waiting for so long arrives. When that girl stops breathing, and dies in such a disgraceful way. And she would be there to incinerate that disgusting body in fire, leaving only a pile of pitiful ashes behind. The only thing that would be left of the person who caused her such uncontainable anger and misery. And if she was lucky, the wind would blow the ashes away to nowhere - or better yet, a hungry Pokemon would eat it and spit it out in pure disgust.  
  
And she would finally be free from that poisonous hatred...  
  
Haruka grinned.  
  
Kasumi was going to die.

**()()()**  
  
Ash was so shocked he stood in the Pokemon Center's entrance for several seconds. Pikachu bumped against Ash's leg, surprised by the sudden stop, until Pikachu himself took in the scene and remained in the same stunned state that Ash was in.   
  
Team Rocket was completely destroying the whole building. Some members were entering the Emergency Room and destroying valuable life-support equipment by throwing heavy chairs or anything they could find on the floor. There was also a large Blastoise spraying water on any machine that wasn't damaged. The machines went haywire and bright sparks of electricity shot in all directions before they exploded and left behind useless piles of burnt metal. The Blastoise, when it was sure everything was ruined, went to another room Ash couldn't see. The sound of shattering glass soon followed after Blastoise's entry, and Ash soon got a good idea of what was happening in that room.  
  
PokeBalls were all over the floor, and confused Pokemon who had popped out from them, stared at the scene of destruction with very open eyes and soon ran to find cover. Some unfortunate Pokemon, who weren't fast enough to locate a hiding place, were brutally knocked out by a huge Golem who punched or stomped them in the head.   
  
A small Oddish, that was trying to escape, tripped over a stray piece of rubble on the floor and landed headfirst on the cold, tiled floor.   
  
The Golem loomed menacingly over Oddish, and smiled in grotesque expectation. The poor Oddish began to tremble in fear and two trails of tears slowly streaked down its blue face. Oddish began to whimper, and covered its face with its leaves as the Golem got closer and closer to it.   
  
Golem kicked Oddish with one of its heavy legs and it flew across the room, shrieking all the way in pain. Oddish crashed against a wall and slumped to the floor - a small trickle of blood running down slowly from its head.   
  
It was still alive, but it could barely open its eyes to slits. Oddish stared at Golem with glazed eyes, yet it was still able to cry for mercy in a croaky voice.  
  
"O-Oddish..." it whispered with a noticeable quiver. The Golem laughed cruelly and firmly grabbed Oddish by its leaves. Oddish closed its eyes in defeat, revealing two dark blue bruises around its eyes.  
  
"Kill that little weakling, Golem. Pathetic Pokemon like that Oddish don't deserve the air they breathe." A blue-haired woman, Ash had never seen before, commanded sadistically.  
  
Ash finally snapped out of the trance he was in. Fury like he never felt before in his life flowed through his veins like molten lava. Ash clenched his fists tightly and ran faster than he thought he ever could.  
  
"STOP IT!" Ash screamed at her with a potent tone of voice he never used before. His command was directed at her for that split-second, but all Ash wanted was someone - anyone - who could just stop the Golem, before -  
  
But it was too late. Golem launched boulders at Oddish's already weakened body. Each boulder hit Oddish with the strength of a maddened Tauros who spotted a red flag waving at its face. Oddish squealed horribly with each impact in unimaginable pain, before it was buried under all the rocks.   
  
"NO!" Ash shouted angrily at the Golem, with unrepressed fury, before running towards the buried Oddish. He scrambled over to the pile of rocks and began to lift one of the boulders with a lot of difficulty.   
  
He turned around when Pikachu's voice snapped the bubble of anger and desperation that had surrounded him. Pikachu started taunting Golem from behind him, and was slapping his lightning bolt-shaped tail to annoy it. Golem, who was surprisingly close to Ash, turned around and soon followed Pikachu.  
  
"Pikachu, don't do it!" Ash cried desperately, but Pikachu's cheeks glowed bright yellow in warning to his pleas and continued mocking Golem with different faces. Golem bellowed furiously before clumsily running after Pikachu.  
  
Ash didn't know what to do. Pikachu was distracting Golem from him so he could save Oddish. But Pikachu was in terrible danger and had a definite weakness to Rock type Pokemon. But he couldn't just leave Oddish behind...  
  
"Don't just stand there like a retard! MOVE IT!" A tall boy snarled at Ash and roughly pushed him out of his way. Ash landed on his back, over a broken plant pot, forcing a lone Rattata hiding behind the remains to dodge his body. Ash tried to get up, but he almost immediately lied down again because of the excruciating pain; he gritted his teeth so he wouldn't cry out.   
  
"Hey! What did you do that for?" Ash exclaimed angrily to the tall boy who pushed him and almost dislocated his back.  
  
"MOVE! Unless you want to end up like the others!" The boy yelled at Ash and indicated with his hand at several sprawled, singed bodies that were lying on the floor.  
  
Ash's eyes widened considerably as he took in the horrible scene. Crumpled figures that were not showing any signs of life lay all over the filthy floor, surrounded by a glistening pool of their own blood. The equally lifeless Pokemon, who were beaten cruelly by the superior high level Pokemon of Team Rocket, also laid among their dead trainers. Their own crimson blood blending together with their masters' scarlet river, bonding them together in a sickening, bloodstained union of death.   
  
A hard lump was rising in Ash's throat as the scene finally registered in his mind. Suppressing the urge to cringe as he stood up, he directed his gaze to the boy, but the boy was not staring at him but at the brutal fights.  
  
"Let's go," he said simply.  
  
"Okay," Ash said hoarsely, as he saw a murderous-looking Machamp punch one trainer after another, disfiguring their faces forever. It was attacked by two brave Phanpys who were easily defeated with a karate-chop from Machamp. The Phanpys landed near a motionless Chansey, and remained in the same state the Chansey was in.   
  
The boy roughly pulled Ash by his arm, as they both ran to find some cover from an oncoming Fire Blast attack from a Charizard. After avoiding many attacks, they managed to get behind the overturned front desk that had been blown forty feet away from its normal place.   
  
The boy was just about to take a PokeBall from his belt when Ash's shout startled him enough, causing him to drop it to the ground.  
  
"PIKACHU! I can't believe I forgot about him! I have to save him from that Golem!" Ash made a move to stand up but the boy's strong grip held him in his place.  
  
"What are you _doing_? My Pikachu is out there fighting with a Golem and he can get seriously hurt!" Ash said furiously, trying to free himself from the boy's iron grip.  
  
"Look, kid. I know that you're worried about your Pikachu and all, but it's doing a good job on distracting the Golem," the boy said smoothly, ignoring Ash's exasperated face. "That Golem is the Pokemon that is causing us the most trouble...that means that it was the main Pokemon to cause the deaths," the boy added that last line when Ash still tried to get up.  
  
Ash ignored the boy's little speech except the last sentence he said. He was paralyzed for a second, torn between two different choices he could make. Ash could run towards Pikachu and save him from that Golem or he could let Pikachu take care of himself for the good of others. He was just about to go with the first option but the sight of many injured and dead carcasses of once living trainers on the floor made him stop from rescuing Pikachu.  
  
The boy's grip loosened, as Ash pondered over his two options. He was trying to think what to do next but the first option was definitely winning over the second choice. His Pokemon's well-being was the most important thing...but if it also came down to the safety of many trainers' lives...  
  
"PIKA!" Pikachu's shrill yell was heard even above all the screams and the blasts of attacks. This immediately snapped Ash out of his thoughts and without any hesitation he ran over to Pikachu, leaving the boy, who was still behind the desk.  
  
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted in terror as he saw the danger Pikachu was in. Golem had pinned Pikachu around the middle and slammed him onto the ground with a thick hand, while it squeezed the life out of Pikachu.  
  
"Pikapi..." Pikachu managed to say between precious gasps of air, until Golem gave another extra squeeze and he cried out in pain.  
  
"TOTODILE - GO!" Ash roared, without any other thought. Totodile popped out of his PokeBall, dancing happily for just a few seconds until he saw the dangerous situation they were in.  
  
Ash didn't waste any more time. "Totodile, use you Water Gun on that Golem!" he bellowed. Totodile nodded grimly before launching a power jet of water from his jaw.  
  
Golem smiled in a victorious way, as the Water Gun didn't even scrape its hard shell. He tossed Pikachu's limp, silent form away as he began to curl inside his massive shell. The gigantic boulder-like form of Golem rolled towards Ash and Totodile, while Totodile continued shooting his Water Gun attack, but to no avail.  
  
Ash scooped up Totodile's tired body and began running away from Golem, who was quickly catching up to them.  
  
"Can't - keep - running!" Ash panted after several traumatizing minutes, but he accidentally tripped over an abandoned PokeBall and he landed backwards on his sore back; an exhausted Totodile tried to help Ash, but he had no strength left.   
  
"Argh!" He tried getting up, but the pain on his back was just too much to bear. Ash saw Golem's huge body, a few feet way from them, and he shut his eyes - too fearful to see his own death.  
  
But many seconds passed, yet Ash was still wavered in opening his eyes. More and more time passed, when finally Ash decided to open his eyes.  
  
He didn't expect the sight before him. Golem was floating in the air - a light purple glow around it - and he was frantically moving its limbs, trying to liberate itself from this force.   
  
Ash was gaping at Golem, until the tall boy's voice once again broke him out of his trance.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR? SLOWPOKE CAN'T DISABLE GOLEM FOR TOO LONG!"  
  
At this order, Ash started to run towards Pikachu's immobile form, scooped him up protectively in his arms, and scampered away from Golem's floating body. He grimaced in pain when he bent over to pick up Totodile's tired body and ran with both Pokemon to a safer distance.  
  
He saw the Slowpoke that saved his life, a mystical purple glow on its eyes, while it desperately tried to maintain the Golem suspended in the air.   
  
The tall boy soon ran alongside Ash and returned Slowpoke back to its PokeBall. Quietly murmuring words of gratitude to Slowpoke through the PokeBall, the tall boy turned to warn Ash. "Golem will be dazed for several minutes - just enough for us to find a good refuge - but once it's back to normal, it will try to find us," he finished grimly.  
  
"Great, just great!" Ash muttered to him, both of them barely avoiding oncoming attacks from all sides. The tall boy had to restrain Ash from saving Pokemon and trainer alike and, in one instance, the boy actually had to wrestle him when a ferocious Kanghaskan slashed all the Clefairys from a blonde, little girl. When it finished killing all those Clefairys, the Kanghaskan started swiping at the young girl with the same bloody, wet claws that ripped away her Clefairys' lives.  
  
The boy guiltily led Ash away from that bloody scene, even as the little girl's anguished screams tore through their hearts.

**()()()  
**  
Darkness.  
  
Eternal, unmoving darkness that didn't let her go.  
  
Misty had to fight it to survive; to stay alive... But what exactly was alive? She couldn't remember, but she also couldn't think - yet how did she know that she had to battle to keep herself from leaving...  
  
Leaving? To where? Did she even know the meaning of leaving?  
  
The blackness, the darkness, the world - she didn't know what it was - wasn't exactly suffocating, or cold. It just gripped her and pulled her away from it all...   
  
Pulling her from what? Misty didn't know the answer.  
  
It was now slowly consuming her, and Misty weakly tried to struggle but she had nothing to fight it with. She gave up and the never ending nothing blocked everything that consisted of her. The shadow of blackness covered Misty and she was soon forgetting everything and everyone.  
  
No, not everyone.  
  
Her heart was still left untouched, and with her last ounce of willpower and strength she conjured her loved ones' faces for the last time. Pikachu, Togepi, her sisters, Brock and Ash all smiled and laughed joyfully, their radiant faces telling her not to give up.  
  
No. Misty didn't want to be taken away from them.  
  
She battled with all her might. She didn't have anything physical left to fight the darkness, but she still had love...  
  
And that was all that mattered.  
  
With one final, mighty scream, the walls of impenetrable nothingness shattered across all time.

**()()()  
**  
Ash and the tall boy soon lost Golem among all the chaos and were panting heavily against the smooth marble wall. They were in the only place in the Pokemon Center that Team Rocket hadn't destroyed - it was in the very back of a long corridor where trainers with little or no money slept.   
  
He could finally see the tall boy's face under a flickering light bulb in the hallway. He had small, yet piercing gray eyes lined with blue at the edges. His hair was an untidy mop of light brown curls that had many split ends. He wore a simple, faded with age, yellow shirt and heavily dusted black pants that was ripped in several places. He was two heads taller than Ash and unfortunately his frame was almost on the lanky side because of this.   
  
Ash was the first one to break the silence. "What's your name? I never asked."  
  
The tall boy stared at Ash for a while before he responded. "Raul Endion."  
  
"Thanks for helping me back there," Ash said with a smile, extending his hand so Raul could shake it. Raul took Ash's hand and firmly shook it.  
  
"Don't let your guard down, though. We're still not safe; not even this far away from the battles." Raul warned.   
  
Raul checked Totodile and Pikachu for any bruises. "Your Totodile is going to be fine. You're lucky it only needs a long rest, if it hadn't been only exhausted, you'd be in big trouble now. Pikachu on the other hand needs a Hyper Potion. Good thing I keep one in my pocket for emergencies." Raul took out a Hyper Potion and sprayed it on Pikachu's beaten form. "Hmm...there wasn't enough to cure all of Pikachu's injuries, but it'll be okay with a long nap."  
  
Ash nodded, completely relieved, and wrapped Pikachu in a thick blanket and placed him gently inside his backpack. He also returned Totodile back to his PokeBall. His heart calmed down a bit, but then he immediately felt a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach.  
  
"Oh no! Misty and Brock!" he panicked, and would've immediately started running back had it not been for Raul's hand holding the back of his jacket.   
  
"Boy, you sure don't think before you act, don't you?" he growled, and Ash immediately wanted to retort - but Raul only held up a hand.  
  
"Save it for later. Now we have to find your friends - " he stopped when once again Ash tried to dart away. " - But we can't just run back into the fighting, shouting your friends' names in hopes that they call back!"   
  
"Then what do we do?" Ash said snappishly, obviously wanting to do what Raul said.  
  
"Why don't we check on all the rooms? If they're not hiding inside, I'll let you do whatever stupid thing you want." Raul said reasonably.   
  
"Ok, ok, ok... But let me go!" Ash yelled, irritated. Raul immediately did so, causing Ash to fall to the floor.  
  
"Hey, you could've been more careful, couldn't you?" Ash said, rubbing his aching back.  
  
"Sorry, uh... what's your name?" Raul asked sheepishly.  
  
"My name's Ash Ketchum... and I'm going to be the greatest Pokemon Master in the world," he said, with almost none of his old childish enthusiasm.  
  
Raul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, uh-huh, sure... Pokemon Master -" Ash wanted to say something to his sarcasm, but he was once again interrupted. "- Shouldn't we start looking for you friends now?"  
  
Ash immediately stood up. "Ok, let's do it!"   
  
He went to the nearest door and opened it forcefully. "MISTY? BROCK? Are you guys here?" he screamed inside the darkened room.  
  
"Ash -" Raul began, but Ash soon cut him off.  
  
"MISTY! BROCK! You're not helping Raul!" Ash exclaimed loudly.  
  
"But Ash -"  
  
"WHAT?" Ash replied exasperatedly.  
  
"I don't think Misty or Brock are in here," he said calmly.  
  
"What makes you so sure?" Ash said testily.  
  
"Because this is a broom closet," Raul said amusedly. He turned on the light switch where several mops and brooms could be seen.  
  
"Wa - well I knew that! They could've been hiding here, you know!" Ash said with dignity, while he tried to hide how embarrassed he was.   
  
"Yeah, you're right. They could've been in there-" Ash straightened himself proudly. "-if they were making out, that is!" Raul laughed in an uncharacteristic fashion, and Ash almost fell over at that remark.  
  
"Very funny..." Ash growled and went to a nearby room with the number '34' on its door.  
  
"Someone seems to be a bit jealous, eh?" Raul smirked in a teasing way in total contrast with his real personality, and it almost made Ash topple over again.  
  
"I'm not jealous!" Ash answered hotly, even more flustered at that particular remark than his broom closet mistake.  
  
"If you say so." Raul grinned, trying to open the door. "Hmm...seems that it's locked. I guess we'll have to try the room next door."  
  
"You said we would check in every room!" Ash said stubbornly, trying to open the door, too.  
  
"Well, destroy the damn door if you want to. The way things are going, it won't make much of a difference if you wreck it," Raul grumbled, thankfully back again to his serious self.  
  
"On the count of three we break down the door, ok?" Ash said, giving Raul a determined look. With a resigned sigh, he went alongside Ash.  
  
"One," Ash started.  
  
"Two," Raul continued.  
  
"Three!" They both said at the same time, and ran towards the door.  
  
They banged themselves against the thick wooden door until their shoulders began to throb painfully. After several attempts the door cracked from their effort and swung open.  
  
The room was almost identical to any other Pokemon Center room that they've been to. It had simple, white walls with no pictures or anything that could stand apart from the other four walls. There was the usual bathroom, and identical bunk beds that stood several feet apart from each other.  
  
But there was someone on the bottom of one of the bunk beds and that person looked just like -  
  
"BROCK!" Ash happily cried, relieved to have found him. But the lightened feeling soon felt like lead when Brock didn't respond to his insistent shakes.   
  
"Come on, Brock! This isn't the time to sleep!" Ash said, almost shouting at him when his eyes still didn't open. He then tried pinching, slapping, kicking and even punching Brock, but he still didn't wake.  
  
"Wake up, Brock!" Ash said desperately, pounding Brock with a pillow.   
  
"He's not waking," Raul remarked, eyeing Brock with a vacant expression.   
  
"I know that!" Ash replied aggravated, resisting the urge to hit Raul with the pillow.  
  
"Have you checked his pulse?" Raul asked tranquilly, which infuriated Ash even more.  
  
"You're not saying -" Ash began furiously, but stopped himself when the possibility struck him like bag full of bricks. What if Brock-   
  
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Raul stated emotionlessly, checking Brock's pulse.   
  
"Brock's not dead!" Ash vociferated loudly, trying to hide his fear.  
  
Raul continued checking Brock's pulse without any other word. When he finally faced Ash, he stared at him with an expressionless face - a mask doctors usually wore when they told grim news to the patient's family. Ash crossed his fingers in spite of himself.  
  
"He's alive," Raul said, with a hint of a smile on his face.  
  
Ash almost slumped on the floor - completely relieved - but worry once again crossed his face as he stared at Brock's still form.  
  
"I don't know what's wrong with your friend, but... I think he's drugged," Raul said quietly.  
  
Ash stared at him in shock for a full minute before responding. "How can Brock be -" but once again he cut himself off as he saw Brock's pale, unmoving face, "-do you really think he is?"  
  
Raul stared at Brock for a long while before responding. "It looks that way. Maybe a simple sleeping pill, or it could be something worse..." he trailed off.  
  
Ash gazed at Brock sadly. He felt so helpless, he didn't know how to help his friend in any way, and he had no one else that could help him... But Ash suddenly shook himself out of the emotional bubble that had surrounded him and truly noted Raul's presence. He hadn't really acknowledged Raul since he saw Brock's immobile form - even though Ash was talking to him just a minute ago. Tearing his gaze away from Brock, he directly stared into Raul's dark gray eyes.  
  
"You can help him...right?" Ash asked, not even blinking or quivering under Raul's intense gaze.  
  
"I can try, but I don't know if it will work," Raul said, finally breaking eye contact. He instinctively fingered his black belt where his Slowpoke's PokeBall was attached. But his hand strayed to an empty space next to that PokeBall, only finding air instead.  
  
"Wh-where's Slowpoke's PokeBall?" Raul said urgently, finally checking every inch of his belt. He stuffed his hands into his pockets only to find small pieces of lint. His hands immediately flew to his messy brown hair and seemed intent on pulling large chunks of it, as he checked the floor for any signs of his missing PokeBall.  
  
"Uh, Slowpoke's PokeBall is on your belt..." Ash pointed out, a sweatdrop trailing slowly down his head.  
  
"I already know that - I'm talking about my other Slowpoke!" Raul growled, in a half-angry, half exasperated voice.  
  
"Why would you need two Slowpokes? Isn't one just enough?" Ash mumbled, while also checking the floor for any signs of the lost PokeBall.  
  
"I have two Slowpokes because each one of them has a different ability from the other." He momentarily stopped his frantic examination of the floor to show Ash his only remaining PokeBall.   
  
"This is the Slowpoke that you saw earlier. Her name is Eliza and her ability, as you have seen, is to be able to control or paralyze any object that has a significant amount of matter with telepathic brain waves that can manipulate the very core of the item in mind. In other words, Eliza can move basically anything with her mind." Raul added when he saw Ash's baffled face. "Eliza has a very strong ability but, unfortunately, she has a limited supply of psychic energy to maintain such an arduous task for a long period of time."  
  
Raul crawled across the floor for any signs of his missing PokeBall, but he continued speaking. "And that's where Tao comes in..." he said in a very worried voice. "His ability is so unique that no other Slowpoke in the world has it. He can project to us events that are happening in any place in the world; he can show these images to just one individual by a psychic connection and that person can only see it in his mind, or Tao can cast these pictures to more than one person by showing it like a holographic projection. But that's not the only thing Tao can do. He can also project emotions, ideas and dreams that people have. It might not seem like much to you, but that's what's going to help your friend." He finished, taking a very furtive glance at Brock.  
  
Ash, got confused by most of his Slowpokes' abilities explanation but he immediately perked up when Raul said that Tao could help Brock.  
  
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go find Tao!" Ash exclaimed in a determined voice, ignoring Raul's aggravated face. He began to ran back to all the chaos, but like many times before, Raul stopped him in his tracks.  
  
"No, you will stay here," Raul stated with such firmness that it left Ash gaping. "Tao is my Pokemon and my friend, and I'm supposed to keep him safe. I won't let anybody else carry this responsibility."   
  
And with that Raul was gone out the door, heading back to the very core of the massacre itself.

**()()()  
**  
After what it felt to her like a very long sleep, Misty could feel the world around her, but she still had to struggle against the restraining unconsciousness who beckoned her with dark hands. Her head felt as if it would split in half if she tried to make even the smallest movement and her temples throbbed with unmerciful pain due to a severe headache.   
  
Misty's eyes felt like lead, but she managed to gather all her energy to slowly open one aquamarine eye. She squinted against the dust, but the only thing she saw was darkness. Heart pounding, she managed to open her eye a bit wider, but she only saw the blackness of the world.   
  
Terror suddenly filled her heart at the complete lack of sight. She opened both eyes and to her complete relief, a thin stream of silver moonlight filtered through the leaves and cast a faint light upon her face. She tried to get up, but dizziness overcame her and she once again slumped to the floor.  
  
Whimpering as she once again forced herself to stand, she used her remaining strength to maintain her body weight - but it was no easy job. Her legs felt like jelly and she felt nauseous just by standing up, which had once been a simple task.  
  
Panting heavily, she leaned against the nearest tree, and tried to regain her breath, but it was a vain attempt. Without any thought, Misty brought a hand over her stomach as the revolting feeling increased.  
  
She felt a warm, sticky liquid coating her fingers when she placed her hand on her stomach in an attempt to calm the nauseous feeling. Her vision was still a bit blurry and she had nothing but the moon's rays as the only light, yet she knew that that fluid was her own blood.  
  
A new wave of nausea passed over her, even worse than the last, but she couldn't keep her eyes off her blood that coursed down her hand like tiny scarlet snakes that moved down a haunting path.  
  
Her dread was numbing every trace of reason in Misty but she was still able to wonder why she still wasn't dead. She didn't remember that very strange dream she had while she was unconscious, but she woke up with an unnatural fear of the dark.   
  
Her wound was still bleeding profusely, but with all the amount of blood that she lost... by all means she shouldn't be alive now. She pondered over this for a few moments, but she shook her head to repel any unimportant thoughts that didn't matter at the moment. She was severely injured, she couldn't get help on her own, and she didn't know where she was.  
  
"Need...help..." she croaked out to the night sky, and didn't wait for any answer.  
  
Misty stumbled almost blindly in the dark, and went in some random direction that was probably the wrong one. Every couple of seconds, she would lose her equilibrium or her breath and she would grip a low-hanging tree branch to maintain her balance.   
  
But something caught her attention, even through her blurry vision. Just up ahead of her were several small shrubs that were on fire and they went on and on along the path she was going. To Misty they appeared just like several pinpoints of orange light, but the flickering motion revealed what they truly were.  
  
Misty knew that Haruka was close. Every flame she saw, every moving shadow, everything that was fire reminded her of Haruka...it also reminded Misty of her new found loathing for that girl.  
  
She followed the bright orange lights, not exactly knowing what awaited her down the wretched path.

**()()()**  
  
"I'm back."  
  
Ash quickly turned around when he heard Raul's voice. He had been watching over Brock's immobile body the whole time Raul was gone and he still didn't show any signs of waking up.  
  
Ash had to smother a scream as he took in Raul's beaten form. He had numerous deep scratches that were bleeding slowly around his neck and arms. His bloodstained clothes were ripped almost to shreds and barely clung to his body. His cheek had swollen considerably and he had a nasty cut just above his left eyebrow that needed several stitches. His usually tussled hair was now a wild, entangled mess and had crusted blood near the back.  
  
"What happened to you?!" Ash yelled, and ignoring Raul's wince at his high-pitched voice, he helped him lie down on the bunk bed that was on the other side of the room.  
  
"Golem," Raul strained out to say, and he immediately seemed to regret it as he squeezed his jaw shut and said nothing more.  
  
"Did you get Tao back?" Ash worriedly questioned. Raul managed to nod his head, despite his pain, and his mouth barely curved upwards in a small smile.  
  
"He's here..." he whispered to Ash and shakily lifted a red PokeBall where Tao was in. Raul dropped the PokeBall to the floor, much to Ash's surprise, but Raul's grin still remained intact on his face.  
  
Tao came out in a vibrant flash of light and his form took his original shape. Tao was an almost exact replica of Eliza, except for a unique, dark purple marking on his pink forehead. Tao let out a sleepy yawn and smiled serenely at Ash. But his droopy eyes opened considerably as he took in the crumpled form of his master. Tao started to shake uncontrollably, and sweat slid down his forehead, and he even forcibly shrugged Ash off when he tried to gab him to see what was the matter...   
  
That's when Tao's eyes turned bright blue.  
  
Raul's closed eyes suddenly opened with a snap and turned the same vivid shade of blue. Much to Ash's growing horror, Golem suddenly materialized out of thin air next to them. Ash couldn't even manage to scream in panic as Golem's massive form rolled over to him.  
  
But Golem never moved an inch closer to Ash and instead, an exact copy of Raul that came out of thin air, began to run with determination and fear right at the dangerous Pokemon. Ash watched in awe as he saw how Raul rolled just in the last second out of Golem's path and tried to make a grab for the forgotten PokeBall that was just behind the monstrous Pokemon. Golem unrolled itself and bellowed furiously for letting his prey escape and slashed Raul with his sharp claws.   
  
The Raul copy cried out in unimaginable pain, Golem smiling triumphantly as he licked his blood-soaked claws in delight, and Raul crashed to the hard floor, bleeding but clutching Tao's PokeBall.   
  
Another PokeBall from his belt started to vibrate and out came Eliza to aid her helpless master.   
  
Ash watched in a terrible, frozen trance until Raul's copy landed brusquely on the floor. Ash ran up to Raul's copy to help him up but his hand passed through Raul's shoulder. Raul's copy didn't even acknowledge his presence and continued twitching in agony, despite Ash's various attempt to try to grasp Raul's ghostly body.   
  
Much closer to the action now, Ash saw how Eliza, unprepared for Golem's sudden Slam attack, crashed against the concrete wall and slumped slowly to the floor.  
  
Tao's howl of sorrow echoed around the small room, and Ash didn't know if it was coincidence or not, but at that precise time Eliza opened her eyes in a blinding purple light and Golem's approaching body stopped in its tracks and was surrounded by a purple glowing aura.  
  
With a scream of fury, Eliza slammed Golem onto the wall in the same painful manner that it was done to her.   
  
Even Golem's hard outer body couldn't protect it from the tremendous impact and when he fell unconscious to the floor, Ash could see some large cracks on its once seemingly unbreakable shell.   
  
Ash watched in silence the heartwarming display of loyalty Eliza had for his master, as she helped him back up with every last ounce of power she had left. Raul's copy floated a few inches from the floor and kept moaning in pain every time Eliza accidentally stumbled because of her lack of energy.  
  
It was at one point, however, that Eliza couldn't take even one more step and with a soft sigh, she dropped Raul and lied still on the floor.   
  
The second Raul, saw this whole display with barely opened eyes, and when he saw his poor Pokemon drop to the floor from exhaustion, he tried to lift himself up to help his fatigued Slowpoke.  
  
He did it, after much coughing and trembling, and gently caressed Eliza's face in gratitude before returning her to her PokeBall.   
  
As suddenly as it appeared, the holographic Golem, Raul and Eliza vanished, leaving only the memory to those who have witnessed it. Raul, who was still lying in the bed, smiled wearily at Ash.  
  
"Incredible, huh?" Raul softly whispered, and Ash was glad to see that his eyes were back to their normal gray color.  
  
"Y-yeah...incredible..." Ash hoarsely replied, who was still in awe from the whole experience.  
  
"You've just seen a part of Tao's full power, but I know that it's not the full capacity of his powers. Even I have never seen his full potential...as incredulous as it sounds..." Raul muttered dryly when he saw Ash's unbelieving face.  
  
It wasn't that Ash didn't believe Raul that Tao had amazing abilities, but... his mind couldn't really take the fact that the slow, dull-witted Slowpoke could be even more powerful than what he had already seen.  
  
Ash's scrambled thoughts about the holographic project began to settle down, and once again the unsettled worry for his friends' safety began to creep up once again.  
  
"Can you please help Brock now?" Ash asked Raul, with more than just a hint of anxiety in his tone.  
  
Raul tried to move his head in a gesture of affirmativeness, but the pain was just too much to bear, so he lifted his hand in a thumbs-up sign.   
  
Tao jumped lightly on top of Raul's chest so he wouldn't injure his master even more than he already was. Raul whispered on his Slowpoke's ear something that Ash could barely hear, but Slowpoke smiled broadly at his master's command.  
  
Tao headed directly for Brock's prone form, and stared directly at his closed eyes. Tao also closed his eyes and soon after, a blue sparkle radiated from Brock and Tao's bodies.  
  
A thick, black mist surrounded the inhabitants of the room, and soon almost everything in the room was obscured from sight. Ash tried moving around in the darkness, but tripped over something and fell headfirst on the floor. Luckily, he covered most of his head with his hands out of reflex, and thanks to that, he didn't injure his head, though his hands were sore from the impact.  
  
"It must've been a powerful drug..." Raul's low comment reached Ash's ears. Ash cautiously walked to where he thought Raul's voice was coming from.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Ash asked worriedly, while almost tripping on a rug.  
  
"His mind... is slowly fading away because of this fog, which is a dream produced by the drug... I guess... The good thing is that Tao can help your friend by bringing out a pleasant dream from his subconscious mind. Well, at least I think that will help him..." Raul trailed off, much to Ash's aggravation.   
  
"What do you mean by 'I think'?" Ash exclaimed furiously, before slipping backwards on the same troublesome rug he was trying to avoid just a moment earlier.  
  
"I'm not too sure if this is going to work. Tao never did this before, you know!" Raul said waspishly, which was surprising since he hadn't looked like he had the energy to speak in such forceful tones.   
  
"Ok, ok! Calm down, just wanted to know..." Ash muttered darkly as he tried to lift himself off the floor. Raul's comment ticked him off a bit, but decided to let it slide.  
  
A soft, blue glow was slowly shining brighter among the thick fog. Some indescribable figures were appearing, and at the same time, they were starting to dissipate the dark fog.  
  
The shapeless forms were soon taking form, and Ash's jaw hung in disbelief at the scene before him. The fog had cleared away completely, and in its place was something that made Ash embarrassed for Brock's sake.  
  
"Come over here, Brockie-Poo! You know you want us..." Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and a brown-haired girl said seductively to Brock, and to the horror of the inhabitants of the room, they were completely covered in whipped cream.  
  
"Don't worry ladies, your Brock is in the house!" Brock announced happily, as he sat up straight, but accidentally shoving Tao off the bed in the process.   
  
He suddenly took notice of the audience he had around him, who were all gaping stupidly at him, and blushed a dark magenta. The three girls suddenly disappeared when Tao hit the floor, but Brock's attention was elsewhere.  
  
"Err...well...I-I can explain..." Brock stuttered, while nervously wringing the sheets.  
  
"Uh...just...forget it Brock," Ash said, but he was still gawking at him.  
  
A very uncomfortable silence filled the room, as all eyes were still on a very flustered Brock. But a high-pitched chirp soon pierced the silence and the source was an amused Togepi who was laughing at Brock.  
  
"Well, it's nice to know that your friend has such an...er...interesting imagination..." Raul commented, with a very disturbed expression on his face.  
  
But Ash, who stopped gawking, didn't answer him and instead watched Togepi in a very odd manner and soon a question popped in his mind.  
  
"Brock, it's good to have you back, but... where's Misty?" Ash asked him, and went to the other side of the room to sit alongside his friend.  
  
"Huh? Good to have me back? Ash, weren't you supposed to be back with your grandparents?" Brock said bewildered, and forgot his previous embarrassment.  
  
"Yeah, but when I saw the newspaper...about the fire...I just had to come!" Ash exclaimed loudly, but then lowered his voice to ask: "Where's Misty, Brock?"   
  
"She's fine, Ash. She just went out somewhere and will be back soon. Though I don't blame her," Brock chuckled, unaware of Ash's perplexed face. "What normal person likes to be locked up anyway? But-" Brock continued, and ignored Ash's horrified expression. "-it was for her own good. Well, at least Haruka said so... Wait - Haruka! Did my beautiful princess come back? Is she ok? Is she hungry? Is she hurt? Don't worry my darling, your prince is coming!" Brock tried to head towards the door, but Ash's patience had finally run out.  
  
"BROCK!" Ash shouted, and that brought Brock out of his trance. "What time was it when Misty left?"  
  
Brock, who didn't expect this question at all, thought for a moment before responding. "Well, last time I checked inside her room it was around seven. What time is it Ash? Quarter after seven? Eight?" Brock asked with a relaxed tone that set Ash off.  
  
"It's almost midnight, Brock!" Ash yelled vociferously, and Brock's surprised face maddened him even more. "And why was Misty locked up here? What did she do? And who is Haruka?" Ash hollered each question, much to Brock's surprise.  
  
"_Midnight_? Gee, that sure was a long nap," Brock said while he rubbed his eyes. "Misty should've been here by now! Guess we should look for her now," he said a bit worriedly, and once again, tried to get up but Ash stopped him once again.  
  
"Do you even know how the Pokemon Center _is_?" Ash said with more than just a little desperation in his voice. He went over to the door, oblivious to Raul's alarmed face.  
  
"ASH! Don't be stupid!" Raul warned hoarsely, but Ash ignored him and opened the door.  
  
"JUST LOOK, BROCK!" Ash shouted and without thinking, he flung the broken door, that was propped against the door frame, wide open.  
  
The sounds of people screaming could easily be heard, even over the malevolent laughter that echoed everywhere. The only corridor that hadn't been destroyed just some time ago now was just a smoldering ruin. The wall that was just opposite of them now had a huge hole, and the rest of it that had been untouched was slowly crumbling.   
  
A lone Charizard, who was smelling their scent, was coming closer and closer to the room. When he was near enough to see their terrified expressions, he smiled with pure malice.  
  
And opened his mouth to fry them all.  
  
They couldn't even scream when their world was consumed in fire.

**()()()()()()()  
**  
I think this was a nice place to stop, don't you think? ;) If you have the time, please review! Ok, I'll answer every kind person who reviewed the last chapter! :)  
  
lil washu2: I'm glad that you found it so interesting! ;) Oh, and about the identity of the hidden person... you'll have to keep reading to find out! **_evil laughter_**   
  
Kaitlin Smith: I'm happy that you loved it! :) I'll try to finish this story as fast as I can, ok? ;)  
  
Froggy: I'm so sorry for the extremely long delay! :( And as I said before, I have no excuses. I'll try to write faster - sorry once again!


	6. Endless Fury

**Disclaimer:** Pokemon will never, ever belong to me. Pity that. 

**Author's Notes: **This was supposed to be part of Chapter 5 but I decided to cut it (again...) into another chapter. I hope you like this chapter and a big thank you for the reviews! Once again, I'm very sorry for the extremely long time to get this out... Hope this makes up for it - this is one of the most important chapters of this story! :)

Oh and from now on (well, from the fifth chapter) there's going to be quite a few violent and bloody scenes...

**Endless Fury**

Misty trudged along the trail, almost blindly in the dark, but instead of heading towards civilization she seemed to be getting closer to the heart of the forest. The stream of moonlight that had lit up part of the forest was now gone, and was replaced by the inky blackness of the night. Her only source of light were the flaming shrubs that were just mere points of light that were swirling and moving around - at least it seemed that way to Misty. The pain in her abdomen had worsened to the point that she didn't know if she was walking, lying down or if she was dreaming... and this was all a horrible nightmare that she would soon wake up from.

Despite all this, Misty wasn't worried in the least. The pain had numbed all sense of logic, and in its place was the insane urgency to find Haruka. She didn't know what she'd do once she found her, but it would've been a big problem if she hadn't been so injured.

Misty didn't know or care on why she was walking on this horrible road and going towards a lunatic who had killed twelve people. She felt that she just had to keep moving, because if she didn't, she would drop dead on the dank, forest floor. Well, maybe she was already dead and this was some sort of ungodly passage to hell.

If it was, she hoped she would get there soon so her torture would end.

Her newly found fear of the darkness was somewhat forgotten at the moment, but at times it would return when she lost sight of the lit shrubs, and she would remain in a state of perpetual nothingness. She wondered dully why the other hedges didn't catch on fire, even those that were close to the ignited plants, but put that thought aside.

Misty had to kneel on the hard, twig-littered floor as a huge wave of nausea passed over her, even worse than all the previous ones. Cold sweat slid down her clammy forehead as she clutched her dirt-crusted hands to her bloody stomach in a vain attempt to overcome the revolting feeling. It wasn't ending, and instead, the pain increased in such a way that she felt that she would pass out again.

Her muddy hands were getting soaked by her slimy crimson blood as she held her bleeding stomach, but it decreased some of the pain, so she pressed them even harder against her open wound. After a while, the repulsive urge to vomit went away and the familiar agonizing throb took its place.

Misty shakily tried to stand up once again, but she was feeling even weaker than before so she remained in the same fetal position. But with just sheer will, she was able to shakily stand up, though unfortunately, the nauseating feeling came back at full force.

Misty was too weak to overcome it this time and with a hack that shook her whole body, she retched on the ground. Whimpering softly, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and once again tried to stand up.

She swayed dangerously for a moment, before finding her balance and continued going forward. Even through her dim vision, she could tell that the flaming bushes were fewer in between and the moments of staying in a state of darkness were longer. She also found it strange that there were even less branches that scratched her bare arms, and therefore, she could advance forward without bumping into trees.

After what felt like an eternity, Misty couldn't see or feel absolutely anything. She was in some kind of clearing, but it wasn't a natural one since smoke hung more heavily on the air here than when she was near the burning plants. Tripping over a charred trunk confirmed her suspicions, even when she landed roughly on the ground.

Haruka was close and slapping herself mentally, she realized what a fool she had been. This realization hit her like a ton of bricks, and her foggy mind suddenly cleared. Trying to breathe though the thick smoke, Misty hauled herself off the floor and started heading back the way she had come.

"Going somewhere, Kasumi?"

The whole place suddenly was surrounded by towering wall of fire that encompassed Misty in a fiery circle; it was trapping her and not letting her escape from the inferno.

Despite the smothering heat that threatened to engulf her, she felt as if someone had dropped a bucket full of icy water on top of her head. Misty had always considered herself brave, but when she saw herself amidst the scorching fire and the black suffocating smoke, she just wanted to fall to the floor and cry for mercy.

The smoke dissipated momentarily, and in its place was Haruka who was grinning maniacally and staring at Misty with her hateful red eyes. With a simple flick of her hand, the smoke dispersed and Misty could clearly see Haruka's ecstatic face, and alongside her was her faithful Torchic, who was staring at Misty pitifully. Once she saw her, Misty's knees gave out and she stared hopelessly at the ash-covered floor.

Misty felt a hand grab her chin forcefully and harshly lifting it up, only to be at eye level with Haruka's glowing eyes.

"Shall we play, Kasumi? I've wanted to have fun with you for a long while," Haruka said silkily, and Misty noted the predatory look in her eyes.

Before her world collapsed under her, Misty noticed how much Haruka resembled the devil himself, and regretted wanting the hell that she had so desired.

* * *

It all went so fast. 

Brock saw the oncoming Fire Blast attack as though seeing it in a dream and didn't react properly until it had almost reached them. Pushing Togepi and Ash roughly from the bed, who was also in that panicked trance that he was in seconds before, they all crashed painfully to the floor.

The fire grazed part of his shirt, but he ignored it for a moment as he desperately kept his and Ash's head low, noting absently that they were both crushing a Slowpoke under their combined body weight.

The arduous moments of waiting fearfully seemed eternal to both Brock and Ash. When it was over, they both tried to breathe somewhat properly as the Fire Blast attack finally died down - but only black smoke filled their lungs instead of precious air. The top bed bunks were still blazing, and Brock was relieved for a split second that they were able to get away safely from it, until he realized he was burning.

Remembering all the safety lessons he used to give to his brothers and sisters about fire emergencies, he started rolling on the floor frantically to extinguish the flames. Trying not to cry out in pain as he did so, the fire finally died down, but what was left of his green vest was only a charred cloth.

Eyes watering because of the smoke, he could barely see Ash's silhouette going towards the other side of the room. He wanted to tell him not to move, but as he tried to speak, he inhaled deeply on the choking smoke and started coughing in a vain attempt to clear his lungs.

He soon lost Ash amongst all the black obscuring smoke and tried to go after him, but a soft whimper caught his attention. Togepi was trembling violently, and clutching the Tentacruel doll as if it were his lifeline. Concerned about the welfare of Togepi, Brock scooped the egg Pokemon in his strong arms. Togepi began squirming frantically in his grasp, so Brock began to search for his backpack that had been alongside the bed before all of this had happened. He hissed in agony when his hands touched the scorching floor, but luckily, he was able to grab his backpack.

Trying to handle Togepi as gently as he could, and ignoring how painful his hands felt, he managed to put the little egg into the safe confines of his bag. Togepi began shrilling loudly at how dark the inside of the bag was, but this time, Brock purposefully disregarded him. The dazed Slowpoke that lay on the floor caught his attention instead and sighing in relief when he felt a pulse, he also placed it next to Togepi in the safe interior of his bag.

Crawling across the burning floor, Brock narrowed his eyes and desperately tried to go to the other side of the room. He could hear the Charizard's triumphant cries even among all the roaring fire that consumed the room. Freezing for a second in fear when Brock heard those ecstatic roars, he hoped that everybody in the other side of the room was safe.

Two people's outlines were soon faintly visible and Brock, covered in sweat, hurried to get there. He began coughing even more roughly in horror once he saw the condition of the other two inhabitants of the room.

Ash, half-slumped against the bottom bunk, had a very glazed yet determined look in his eyes as he tried to carry an unconscious person on his back. The weight was too much for his small body to bear, but his strong will urged him to try. The guy that was on Ash's back had a bright, red burn on his left cheek, and part of his brown hair was scorched. Various bruises and blood stains covered his body, and an oddly-angled shoulder revealed that he had broken it.

Brock, despite his own battered state, shakily stood up to go help his youngest friend and the injured person he had seen briefly before the Charizard attacked. Ash, once he saw his friend coming, smiled weakly and attempted to stand up, but his knees buckled under all the weight.

"Will you give me a hand, Brocko?" Ash wheezed, but tried to cover his fatigue by grinning.

Brock didn't respond, but merely took hold of the man and tried to ease Ash of some of his burden. He grunted, but didn't complain about the heaviness, and walked slowly towards what he thought was the exit.

A cracking noise made his head turn around, and his eyes widened in surprise and alarm at the sight. The fire in the upper bunk had destroyed all the support that kept it at its place, and with a shuddering snap, all of it came crashing down in a ball of flame.

"Ash! WATCH OUT!" Brock cried out loud and lost all the oxygen in his lungs in doing so.

Ash, who was too preoccupied in getting his bag out of the bottom bunk, didn't notice the falling debris. Brock, momentarily forgetting about the injured young man on his back, who rolled carelessly off of him, ran over to Ash and shoved him out of the way. Ash landed roughly on the floor, and his glassy eyes grew in shock as the upper bunk collided with the bottom bunk and both smashed into a fiery pile of wood.

"NO!" Ash yelled hoarsely, and ran over to the flaming pile without hesitation.

"ASH! What are you doing?" Brock shouted in alarm when he saw Ash losing all common sense by still trying to get out his crushed backpack from the collapsed bed bunk.

Ash howled in agony when his hands touched the hot flames, yet he still continued to get his bag from out of the fire. Brock tried grabbing him by the arms but Ash resisted, and with surprising strength, pushed Brock roughly off him.

Snapping out of his momentarily surprise, Brock once again tried grabbing hold of both of Ash's arms and started pulling him away from the fiery havoc. Ash couldn't fight him off this time, yet he thrashed around in Brock's arms.

"Calm down, Ash! What's gotten into you?!" Brock screamed his voice even louder than the roaring fire that was slowly consuming the small room.

"LET GO OFF ME!" Ash bellowed, and he seemed to gain physical strength as he saw his backpack enveloped by the flames. "PIKACHU!"

Brock, stunned at these words, released Ash from his firm grip. Ash immediately went back again to rescue Pikachu, who was trapped in the backpack's suffocating interior.

The bag was trapped between two long planks of wood and was rapidly being ravished by the fire. Ash, completely oblivious at the great danger he was putting himself in, tried to wrench out the flaming backpack. He gritted his teeth, and didn't utter a word at the raw pain he felt - he suffered it all in silence.

Brock, growing weaker as the seconds passed and as more smoke replaced the oxygen in his lungs, couldn't help but slump in a dazed pile by the floor. Brock saw through bleary eyes the young man that he had been trying to help earlier, though he was in a worse state now that he had been moment ago. The young man's shoulder, which had been in a strange angle before, was now bleeding profusely by the bone that was sticking out of his skin. Brock tried to help him, but all his attempts failed because of his fatigued mind.

Ash, unaware of the state of his other two companions, was able to get out the half-wrecked backpack with his two burnt hands. He rapidly tore the ruined remains off of Pikachu's immobile body and wasn't mentally prepared for the sight in front of him.

Pikachu's yellow fur had been completely devoured by the fire, and underneath it was a blackened skin that was covered in gleaming red spots. His normally bright, black eyes were closed shut - which Ash frantically tried to pry open with trembling hands.

"Pi-pikachu?" Ash stuttered, while weakly shaking his unresponsive Pokemon.

Brock could see, even though his eyes were glazed over by the smoke, the pain that was becoming more apparent in Ash's eyes. Brock himself was very worried about Pikachu's condition and wanted to go over and check how he was, but just as soon as that thought passed over his head, his limbs froze in motion.

The fire finally grazed his petrified body, and even then he couldn't open his mouth to scream.

Ash, only preoccupied about Pikachu, never saw the panic in Brock's eyes.

* * *

"Hey, Stevens! Dinner's here!" 

Mark immediately opened his eyes when he heard the voice cutting the silence that he was used to. He had been sleeping peacefully because his constant nightmares had finally decided to give him some rest, instead of tormenting him relentlessly. He dreamt of nothing, of course, yet that didn't matter because he had been suspended in an eternal, blank state of bliss.

_Until now, that is..._he thought to himself with annoyance, and tried to turn over to the other side of the lumpy mattress.

_...Lumpy?_

The rush of memories of hours before overwhelmed his mind.

It hadn't been some past dream... A girl with red hair had come here...had tried to convince him that he was innocent...had actually entered his cell and comforted him...

Had almost made him believe that he was worth something...

_Misty._

"Meowth got your tongue again, Stevens? God, I wish they'd pay me more for this..." the policeman grumbled - as all of them did; always complaining that he never said anything.

That didn't matter to Mark. He was remembering the Pokeball that was under his filthy mattress - a Goldeen was inside it. Misty gave it to him... It represented the most important thing in Mark's empty, wretched life...

_Her promise._

"MISTY!" he screamed with all the pent-up desire that had been inside his soul. He sobbed into his grimy mattress, not from grief - but from the glorious happiness that had overcome him. She was coming back... She wasn't a dream... She was real...

...Misty was - to him, she was...

"Who the hell is this 'Misty'? You scared the shit out of me, Stevens!" the policeman reprimanded him, and finally steered the cart with his dinner inside the small, padded room. "Say... this 'Misty' person isn't another culprit of yours, right? Finally cracked under all the stress, Stevens?" he grinned, even though Mark couldn't see well under the dim light.

_You're not worthy of saying her name, you bastard..._

"Hmm, Misty... Hey, did this girl help you kill all those people? Better speak up, Stevens; this can help you get out of this fuck hole of yours," he scowled, gazing at Mark's room with disgust.

"Don't say her name..." Mark whispered threateningly to him - the first time he spoke directly to any of the policemen.

"Eh? Why the hell not? Was this Misty girl some kind of bitch of yours? Well, that sure explai -"

"SHUT UP!" Mark bellowed with a murderous glint in his eyes. Both of them glared at each other in silence, neither of them wanting to move.

After some tense seconds, the policeman was the first one to speak up. "Fine. Have it your way, Mark," the cop said, pronouncing his first name with distaste. He picked up a hot plate full of onion soup that was on the cart and spilled it all over Mark's mattress. "Just one final piece of advice," he muttered harshly, while Mark stared at the large green spot on his mattress that used to be his dinner. He never expected the next words that came out of the police cop's mouth.

"Don't cling onto false hopes, Stevens."

* * *

"So you don't want to play? That's a real shame..." Haruka grinned maniacally while she approached Misty's battered body. "But don't you worry, Kasumi! I know of some really fun games the two of us can play!" she laughed maliciously, enjoying the frightened look in Misty's eyes. 

Misty was breathing heavily from the lack of air and her numerous wounds. She didn't know how she was going to get out of this situation and her horror made it difficult to think clearly. She had no idea what this demon had against her - was it because Haruka knew that Misty watched her burn that whole field?

Misty dropped to the ash-covered floor in exhaustion, her wasted body unable to run away from the onslaught of pain that was soon to come.

"Aww, you poor, little thing... Are you too tired to play? Don't feel bad - I'll fix that up for you!" she chuckled, while coming even closer to Misty, her loyal Torchic by her side.

Misty closed her eyes tightly and tried to struggle when Haruka lifted her up by the collar of her ripped yellow shirt. She opened them abruptly when she felt Haruka's bright, red eyes boring into her own.

"I can't believe you were so easily led to your death, Kasumi," Haruka said softly, her fake playfulness long gone from her voice. "And you're already beaten up -" she said this while inspecting Misty's face with her gloved hands, "- You proved to be a bigger disappointment than I thought."

Haruka released her hold on Misty, making her crash painfully onto the hard floor. Haruka had a wild look in her eyes as she circled around Misty's paralyzed body.

"You know...this could end in a very fast manner, but..." and she smiled sweetly at Misty, "...this isn't your lucky day, Kasumi. Unfortunately for you -" Misty wasn't prepared when she felt Haruka's hand around her neck. "- I'm in a very bad mood today. Well, actually...I wanted to get my revenge on you for a while, so..." Haruka tightened her hold on Misty's neck, who thrashed vainly in her grasp, "...you'll understand my actions. I mean, if someone ruined your life, you'd do the same thing, right Kasumi?"

Even though she was dazed, Misty opened her mouth. "I...never...did...anything...to...you...!" she managed to gasp out, though she regretted it immediately.

Haruka's triumphant grin dropped off her face, and instead, a scowl marred her features. "Trying to be funny, Kasumi? Or maybe perhaps you had some memory lapse? Or perhaps..." and she squeezed Misty's neck even harder in delight, "...the lack of air is making you a bit stupid? Well, more than normal anyway," Haruka said, while Misty writhed weakly.

Misty's world soon grew darker, no matter how much she tried to fight the darkness. She wanted to cry from the panic that was overwhelming her other senses; her brain was shutting down from the agony of it all. And then it slowly began to subside as she felt herself becoming oddly light...

Until she smashed back down to Earth.

"Did you actually think I was going to kill you in such a painless manner? Don't be so naïve, Kasumi," Haruka said nastily, while she softly stroked Misty's battered body. "You thought that I wasn't going to use my dear fire here? What's the use of controlling fire to its full capacity if you don't even kill your enemies with it?"

Her hands suddenly became enveloped with flaming fire, and she stared at her palms with open admiration. "Isn't it beautiful?" Haruka purred, while hugging her hands close to her chest; Torchic chirping happily next to her. "Its warm heat, its uncontrollable power, the way it moves like it has a life of its own... All of it has a magnificent charm I could never ignore. Humanity's biggest treasure - without it, humans would've perished long ago. And yet, they discredit fire as some worthless bug, the bastards."

Haruka snarled and with surprising speed, her blazing fist came into contact with Misty's tender head. She crashed backwards into the ground, and with a muffled crack, she felt her broken ribs shatter inside her chest. Misty's eyesight swam with a million blinding stars, and she felt a small trail of blood sliding down her mouth. Despite this, she tried get up - a rush of pure determination suddenly flowing through her veins. With wobbly legs she walked slowly towards her aggressor - who was watching her with amused eyes. Breathing deeply, Misty raised a shaking fist and tried to direct it towards Haruka with her remaining strength. She laughed, and blocked Misty's blow with a single finger. Haruka, in turn, kicked Misty directly on her gut, and with cold sweat sliding down her forehead, she retched blood all over the ashen floor.

"Perhaps because fire has caused them so much grief, and I was no exception," Haruka continued, ignoring Misty's broken body on the floor. Misty didn't know if it was because of her delusional state of mind, but she thought that Haruka's red eyes dimmed for a second.

"But that was when I didn't know its full energy..." and without any other notice, Misty felt a tremendous impact on her head that made her battered body to roll several feet closer to the burning flames. "The way it can expand, the way it can _burn_ until only ashes remain..." Haruka said pronouncing each word with pleasure, and she cupped Misty's cheeks with her burning hands. Misty shrieked in agony and tried to get away from the endless pain that smothered her face. Haruka gripped her harder until her nails dug painfully into Misty's cheeks, while a streaming river of blood ran down her face. "Getting killed by fire is the most painful way to die, Kasumi," Haruka ignored Misty's agonizing screams and continued, "And fortunately, you're the next lucky person to know just how painful it is..."

Misty's vision burned a bright orange as she felt herself fuse with the burning fire in Haruka's hands. Her mouth was open in a silent scream, long after her pleading had ended in a silent gasp. She heard a soft whisper that even surpassed the roaring fire that filled her ears.

"Good luck in hell, Kasumi."

* * *

The fire wasn't important. 

Ash hardly took notice of it as he watched on helplessly as Pikachu - his best friend, didn't move even when Ash started crying into his burnt skin. He didn't feel anything that was happening around him - the fire, the Charizard, his friends - everything disappeared from his numb mind.

Ash could only feel Pikachu's nonexistent heartbeat.

"Please wake up, Pikachu..." Ash sobbed, and shook Pikachu's body even more forcefully.

Pikachu didn't move.

Still holding Pikachu closely to his chest, Ash slumped to the floor. He felt a cry of despair building up inside him - he wanted to scream in anguish, but a part of him was denying fiercely of what he was seeing.

_Pikachu can't be dead...he just can't be..._

_But just look_, another voice inside his head exclaimed. _Pikachu's dead and you know it._

"NO, HE ISN'T!" he screamed out loud, and when no one responded to this, Ash felt himself losing it.

With tears covering his face, he dropped both his hands in defeat. It took many long seconds to figure out that one of his hands had landed next to his abandoned Pokeballs that he had thrown out in his haste to get Pikachu out of his ruined backpack. It took an even longer time to remember that he had a certain Pokemon that could get them out of the dangerous situation they were in. In an emotionless state of mind, Ash felt himself grabbing onto the smooth surface of the Totodile's Pokeball and throwing it up to the air.

Totodile came out in a flash and was starting to dance in glee until he saw the fire that was enveloping the room. He opened his jaw to let out a stream of water and waited for Ash's orders to extinguish the flames. It never came, since Ash was still staring at Pikachu with an indescribable expression on his smudged face.

Totodile, startled at the sight of his burnt friend and determined to save them all from further catastrophe, finally began shooting water from his jaws. Mist was soon replacing the suffocating smoke inside the room, and the temperature dropped down abruptly as the flames died down under the spray of water.

Brock gasped out loud when he felt the cool water on his skin, and came out of the dizzying trance that he had been in. Ash saw Brock immediately going towards Raul and checking how he was. He shook his damp head sadly, mostly to himself, and turned his squinty eyes towards Ash. He almost screamed when he saw Pikachu's broken body once more.

"Ash, is Pikachu alright?" Brock whispered.

Ash didn't respond, but scrunched his face and buried his face under Pikachu's neck. He didn't care that his sobs were echoing all around the small room; he was only aware of the deep feeling of loss that was invading his heart. Ash's sobs still continued even when Brocks strong hand squeezed his shoulder, he didn't want Brock's pity - he only wanted to be left alone.

Ash felt Brock leaving his side; with a sigh of relief, he hugged Pikachu even closer to himself.

His face obscured by Pikachu's skin, he could only hear Brock's grunts and a soft thud followed by a cry of frustration. Ash lifted his head.

"Can't - lift - this - guy!" Brock hollered, pulling on Raul's limp arm.

"You did it last time, why can't you do it now?" Ash replied hollowly.

Brock just stared at Ash oddly, but didn't say anything. He placed Raul's arm carefully around his neck and with a groan, heaved his body onto his back.

"All set now. Let's leave before the Charizard comes back," Brock said in a strained voice.

Ash merely nodded quietly as the only indication that he heard and agreed with Brock. Still holding Pikachu, he scooped up all his Pokeballs on the floor but couldn't pick up the rest of his possessions. His body moved forward while his brain was slowly detaching itself from reality itself.

"I don't think that the Charizard can see us through all this smoke. Anyway, I think it left already, so that's one less thing to worry about," said Brock relieved, once he was sure that it wasn't anywhere nearby.

Ash remained quiet, and Brock didn't say anything else when he heard no reply from his friend. They both reached the entrance to their room, and when they didn't hear anything menacing, they left the room entirely.

Ash immediately knew that things were seriously wrong; the whole ruined corridor was eerily quiet. Brock was looking at their surroundings with an apprehensive expression on his sweaty face, and every so often glancing at Pikachu. Ash held Pikachu even more protectively to his body, and trying, but failing dismally, to stop Totodile from dancing excitedly. Brock stopped all of a sudden, and carefully lowered Raul to the concrete floor.

"Things aren't looking too good, Ash. I think it'll be best if we try to help this guy; I can't carry him any longer," said Brock, while rummaging around his bag.

Togepi popped out of the bag, looking much happier that he had been earlier. He was still clutching the worn-looking Tentacruel doll, but he now wore a strangely smug expression on his cute face. He chirped joyfully in his usual manner, while Brock tried to push him down gently to find the items he needed. He lifted Tao up instead.

"How did this Slowpoke come to our room anyway?" Brock said curiously.

"His name's Tao; he's Raul's Slowpoke," said Ash uninterestingly, indicating a bruised Raul with his hand.

Brock stared at Raul for a moment before continuing to look through his backpack, while placing Tao back into his bag. He emerged from inside the bag beaming jubilantly at Ash, holding a bottle, a towel and a white box.

"Thought we were out of rubbing alcohol back in Mahogany and I didn't think there were any band-aids left," said Brock conversationally, while applying a bit of alcohol to the towel. He scooted closer to Raul and gently rubbed his wounds with the towel, then pressed a sticky band-aid to each one of them. He stared at Raul's shoulder with a grim determination in his squinty eyes.

"That shoulder looks nasty... Let's have a look at it," Brock muttered to himself.

He poked the pointed bone gingerly with his finger, and then tried to place the bone back in with difficulty. Ignoring Raul's whimpers (though he was still unconscious), Brock managed to place the bone in what hopefully was its rightful place. Brock delved into his backpack again, though his grin faded slightly when he faced Ash again.

"Can't find anymore cloths to keep the bone in place," Brock sighed. "Oh well..." Brock mumbled and took his torn orange t-shirt off.

Ash remained silent through all this and couldn't find the energy to help Brock in any way. Brock, meanwhile had strapped the cloth around Raul's broken shoulder and across his arm, while maintaining a firm grip on him. Raul looked much better than before, though a good part of his hair had been burnt and there was a red burn in his right cheek. He also hadn't come back to consciousness.

"Maybe this'll wake him up," said Brock, pressing the damp towel to Raul's nose.

Raul slowly opened his eyes and didn't seem to react until a few seconds passed. When he did, his eyes seemed to bulge out from their sockets and he immediately tried to stand up - the pain in his shoulder made him think twice on that.

"The Charizard - where's the Charizard?!" Raul said frantically, while moving his head from side to side.

"I think it's gone now..." Brock said in a reassuring voice, though he also checked his surroundings nervously.

Raul turned his head so fast he appeared to crick his neck; he stared at Brock sharply. "You're Brock, right?" said Raul crisply, as though he had never seen him before.

"Uh, yeah...that would be me..." said Brock uncertainly, looking as if he had forgotten who he was for a moment.

Raul nodded curtly, and faced Ash without saying anything else to Brock, who looked a bit taken-aback. "Ash, I think we should -" and stopped abruptly when his eyes strayed away from Ash's cold face to Pikachu's inert form.

"What the hell happened to your Pikachu?!" Raul yelled, and pushed a suddenly responsive Ash aside to check Pikachu carefully. "The little thing's still breathing but I don't know for how long," Raul said tersely, while opening Brock's bag without permission.

"Nothing's wrong with Pikachu," said Ash firmly, though his voice wavered.

"Whatever you say," Raul replied dismissively, and took out a jar in a side pocket from Brock's bag, who was watching him intently with one beady eye.

"There's some smashed Burnt Berries here; it'll help your Pikachu," said Raul, spreading the reddish goop on Pikachu's black skin.

Ash hadn't reacted properly until now, but the full meaning of Raul's words finally sunk in.

Pikachu was alive...

He was still hurt, but he could, no, get better - Ash could do something to help him; he had a chance to make Pikachu recover instead of sitting helplessly with his dead body in his arms. He wasn't useless, he could do something now...

Pikachu depended on him.

* * *

"What're we waiting for then? Pikachu needs help!" Ash shouted, back to his usual self in a blink of an eye, while returning Totodile back to his Pokeball. Attaching each of his Pokeballs to his belt, he sprinted without hesitation to the other end of the wrecked, silent corridor. 

"_Ash_ - ASH! Don't be so stupid and come back here!" Raul yelled, while clenching his teeth and grabbing his shoulder as he stood up.

"Nurse Joy will look after Pikachu, don't worry!" Ash's voice echoed around, even after they couldn't see him any longer. There was a deafening silence between Brock and Raul as they realized the implications of Ash's statement.

"The idiot... the goddamn _fucking_ idiot! He's going to be killed down there!" Raul yelled, while beginning to run after him: Brock hot on his heels.

"What happened to this place?" Brock panted, while staring everywhere with shocked eyes.

"Team Rocket," Raul answered simply, as they both turned around a particularly dark corner.

"Team Rocket? Jesse, James, and Meowth wouldn't be capable of doing something like this," Brock whispered in a choked voice as he stared, horrified, at a bloody Chikorita whose purple intestines were wrapped around its neck.

"I have no idea who those guys are, but I sure as heck know that there are more than three people behind all this," Raul murmured back, who was fixedly looking straight ahead.

They finally reached the main lobby though they stopped, completely appalled, at what greeted their eyes.

A mass of dead bodies lay sprawled all around the red, marble floor, and amidst their blood-splattered corpses, dozens of Pokemon, amongst them that Charizard, were slashing ruthlessly at their gory remains. Soon it was apparent that it wasn't a mindless action; once one of them found a stray Pokeball on one of the trainers, they would open it to see what Pokemon was in it. What they considered to be weak, they would slay mercilessly with their claws and those they considered to be relatively strong, they would return back to their Pokeballs unharmed. Team Rocket members were staring pitilessly at the massacre and would stuff all the Pokeballs in a bag over their shoulders that were approved by their own Pokemon.

Hiding quickly behind a wall because an Umbreon was sniffing suspiciously in their direction, both Brock and Raul stared at each other horror-struck. Trembling slightly from the sight, they both contemplated quickly of their current situation in silence.

"What do we do now?" Brock spoke up, once he found his voice.

"We should..." Raul strayed off, lost for words, and ran his fingers through the remaining part of his brown, tussled hair. "We get Ash back," he said finally and straightened his faded yellow shirt, making it bunch around his scrawny shoulders.

Brock didn't say anything but began unhooking each of his Pokeballs from his belt. Stopping only when he felt Raul's pale, inquisitive eyes on him, he turned around to face him. "I'll use Onix to distract them; you try to find Ash," Brock stated decisively and enlarged the Pokeball that contained Onix.

Raul nodded and also unfastened his two Pokeballs, but unlike Brock, opened them immediately. Eliza came out panting slightly and her eyes were even more unfocused than usual, while Tao's Pokeball rolled unopened on the floor.

"Tao..? Where's Tao?" Raul whispered worriedly, unnecessarily shaking Tao's Pokeball.

"Er...Tao?" Brock asked.

"My _Slowpoke_!" Raul screeched frantically, with a definite edge of panic in his voice.

Raul was violently opening Tao's Pokeball by banging it against the wall, when Brock remembered.

"Oh, I think you must be this Slowpoke's trainer then!" Brock said merrily, while pulling Tao gently from out of his bag. No sooner had he said this that Tao was taken away forcefully from his grasp.

"Tao, I'm so glad you're ok!" Raul cried out in a high-pitched voice, while fiercely hugging Tao, who was gaping blankly at the wall. After much cuddling, Raul emerged from this happy display of affection with a suspicious glare at Brock.

"Why was Tao inside your bag?" Raul growled menacingly, while tightening his grip on Tao.

"I found him injured in the fire," Brock said rapidly, while backing away a little from Raul.

Raul glowered at Brock for a few tense seconds until he visibly relaxed and turned away from him; Brock sighed in relief.

"Well, then... We better get in there," Raul said briskly, indicating Brock with his hand.

"Yeah, let's go," Brock said at once, and just when he was about to release Onix, Raul stuck out his undamaged hand.

Rolling his eyes at Brock's questioning gaze, he firmly shook Brock's hand. Releasing it just as rapidly, he stood up and dusted himself off, and with Raul's pointed stare, Brock did too.

With simultaneous nods to each other, Brock threw Onix's Pokeball to the floor; it opened with a bright flash of red light and Onix's humongous form appeared with a mighty roar. Team Rocket's Pokemon turned their heads rapidly and began to run towards Onix with howls of savage battle lust.

With a parting wave of his hand to Raul, Brock entered the slaughter.

* * *

Raul soon followed Brock, but lost sight of him when a swarm of high level Pokemon covered Onix from sight. He didn't help either of them because of only one goal in his mind - to find Ash. 

Though Eliza was injured with her battle with Golem, she still had sufficient power to clear the way for Raul and Tao, who was nestled in his arms. The Umbreon that had been sniffing them earlier was the biggest problem Eliza had right now, as sweat poured down her pink brow as she tried to maintain a psychic barrier around them. A Blastoise tried to bring the barrier down with a strong jet of water, but it rebounded back at it; the Blastoise entered its shell just in time, as the force of the water collided with it. An Espeon was trying to rip the telepathic wall down with its own psychic energy - it would've succeeded if it hadn't been for the Blastoise who at that precise moment crashed into it, sending it toppling over to an indignant Venusaur.

"Tao - where's Ash?" Raul asked hurriedly, as they both tried to keep up with Eliza.

Tao didn't respond for several seconds, instead staring with its mouth open at the battle happening all around them. His eyes suddenly changed into a striking, glowing blue, and when the images flashed into his mind, Raul's eyes turned the same shade of blue.

He saw Ash protecting an even more injured Pikachu with his own body as a Bayleef, a Totodile, and a Cyndaquil battled for him. The Bayleef was whipping any approaching Pokemon with her vines, while Totodile was spraying furiously at the Charizard who tried to kill them earlier. Noctowl was pecking any nearby Pokemon, though his strategies weren't working too well. Cyndaquil was flaming any Team Rocket member, but surprisingly to no avail, as the flames ricocheted from their shiny suits.

"Eliza - corridor to the right!" Raul ordered rapidly, knowing that Ash was near the Emergency Room.

Eliza fired another psychic blast to a snarling Tyranitar in response. Covering them with another telepathic barrier, they all both turned right to another destroyed corridor and at the end of it - Ash.

The Umbreon saw them advance even further and gathering all its dark energy in its malevolent red eyes, it fired a tremendous black beam from its mouth. The telepathic wall shattered into a million particles of purple light and struck Eliza directly to her head. With a soft moan, Eliza slumped to the floor.

"ELIZA!" Raul roared along with a howl from Tao, and scooped her up into his arms.

The Umbreon cried out in triumph and tried to bite Eliza, but Raul's infuriated swipe stopped it for a mere second; it smiled spitefully at them and was about to attack again when most of Team Rocket's Pokemon spotted them defenseless.

Raul saw raw hunger in all their hateful eyes and, returning Tao and Eliza back into their Pokeballs, he prepared himself for death.

* * *

He was so close... 

Running recklessly into the massacre without preparing himself for it gave numerous wounds to all of his Pokemon. They were all battling as hard as they could but Ash saw that their fatigue was soon winning over. It was his entire fault...

A Flareon had given Pikachu even more wounds as they all ran for their lives to the Emergency Room. Ash was now protecting him with his back, and cringed in pain when a Raticate clawed him ruthlessly.

The Emergency Room was just behind him... If only he could reach it...

Cyndaquil was the first one to fall, his quills finally extinguished from sheer exhaustion and Ash returned his body quickly into the relatively safe confines of his Pokeball; he thanked him through the Pokeball's red surface. Noctowl was defeated by a nasty Thunder Bolt from a Jolteon that burned some of his feathers, and Ash returned him with a pained heart. Bayleef´s vines were soon falling limply by her sides and before anything worse happened to her, Ash returned her too. Totodile alternately sprayed from the Charizard to the rest of the fierce Pokemon who, spotting an opening, were circling around Ash and Totodile.

Without any other notice, Ash returned a surprised Totodile back into his Pokeball.

Before the ferocious Pokemon blocked his sight, Ash managed to catch a glimpse of Raul who was vainly blocking his face with his bloodied hands. He saw no more as the bloodthirsty Pokemon turned their attention towards him.

Ash hugged Pikachu even closer to himself and prepared himself for the pain to come.

"Stop."

Ash raised his head.

All the forthcoming Pokemon quickly retreated away obediently from him as a blue-haired woman and a blond man stepped forward. The woman was peering interestedly at him behind her black goggles, as the man smirked in a victorious manner. The rest of Team Rocket's members stood beside those two, holding their Pokeballs in their hands threateningly. The woman, who Ash assumed was one of the leaders, turned her back on him and addressed the group before her.

"All our work has not been in vain, for this boy..." and she pointed towards Ash, "...has the strong Pokemon the boss has asked us to retrieve."

All of them smiled greedily in unison, and raised their Pokeballs a little bit higher, but still remained in their places.

The man stepped forward and his smirk was even more pronounced when he spoke. "You better hand it over, kid, or they'll attack -" he said, while displaying all of the Pokemon with a flick of his hand. "- with just one snap from my fingers..." he said harshly, and raised his hand with his index finger and thumb pressed together. "So what's it going to be?"

"You'll never get Pikachu!" Ash yelled, and tried to hide Pikachu under his jacket.

"Pikachu? We aren't playing, brat; you better give us that strong Pokemon the boss wants or else," the woman hissed, and some Pokemon growled.

"Wha - you'll never get any of my Pokemon!" Ash said with a small bit of surprise in his voice; he faintly remembered hearing the man and woman from somewhere before.

"Oh, we'll see about that," the woman cackled, and some of the members snickered along with her.

All of them were charging for him when Ash, in a desperate and foolish move, threw Totodile's Pokeball towards them. Totodile began to dance happily for barely a second, when uproarious laughter stopped him from doing anything else.

"You think that pathetic Pokemon will stop us?" the man sniggered, and outright chortled when a Jolteon lightly kicked Totodile, making him land on his tail.

"TOTODILE, WATER GUN!" Ash shouted and didn't think about his command until he saw the results of it. The attack reached the blond man, but when the jet of water died down, he stood there completely dry.

"Such an idiot, little boy... All these suits are fireproof and waterproof - did you actually think Team Rocket would wear simple clothing, you silly child?" the woman chuckled.

Ash returned Totodile immediately and was berating himself for the stupidity of his action. He thought he saw a big, yellow Pokemon moving restlessly in its place as the rest all advanced forward.

"Enough games," the man whispered.

He snapped his fingers.

The agitated Pokemon, an Electabuzz, gave a battle cry and crackling with unspent electricity, punched one of the Rocket members. A freckly man fell forward from the force of it, as the rest of his companions watched dumbfounded. The backpack that was on his back began to sizzle and smoke, and without any other warning, it exploded in a ball of fire.

The explosion sent the people that were near him crashing into a nearby wall, which collapsed from the force of it. A part of the ceiling began to crack and rumble, and soon chunks of falling debris were dropping all over them and crushing several unwary people under it. Some were suffocating from the smoke as they were trapped in a wooden beam that had fallen from the ceiling and caught fire. Those that were unharmed were trying to bring down the crazed Electabuzz who was continuing to punch any person in the back, and caused even more explosions that sent people flying.

Ash, who was forgotten in the chaos, was coughing roughly from dust that was covering his line of vision, but otherwise remained unharmed since the ceiling over him remained intact, though cracks were soon appearing on its smooth surface. He was holding Pikachu even more protectively to his chest, when he heard it.

"Pi...ka..."

His eyes flew open, and he could see through the smoke and dirt an outline of a woman, but his attention soon focused on his dear friend. He touched his forehead fondly with slightly burnt fingers and quietly urged him to open his eyes. Pikachu squirmed for what seemed like an eternity to Ash, and when he did, the first true smile since the massacre started spread across his blotched face.

"Pikachu?" he asked softly.

"Pi...ka...pi..."

And his cheeks started to spark.

A single crackle of electricity reached the woman; the woman screamed and with fast reflexes, she took the smoking bag off her shoulders and threw it towards Ash. He ran for it, and the force of the humongous explosion made him fly several feet up in the air before landing agonizingly over a stray piece of rubble.

He barely heard a scream of "RETREAT!" as he felt himself black out.

* * *

"Ash!" 

He felt a strong pair of hands hauling him to his feet, and with blurry eyes, he tried to see who it was. He thought it was someone familiar but his brain and eyes weren't functioning properly; he tried to open his mouth instead, but his throat was so dry he could barely manage to croak feebly.

"It's ok, Ash. Just try to relax now, everything's fine," the voice said.

"Whossit?" Ash muttered incomprehensibly.

"Don't try to speak yet, just drink this," the voice, whose outline was becoming clearer, said.

Ash shut his mouth even more resolutely, though the strange object finally entered his mouth and a clear liquid went down his throat. He sputtered uncontrollably, and sat up straight as his eyesight finally came back to focus.

Brock stared at him with concern, and Ash noted with some worry that there were several deep gashes that were still bleeding all over his bare torso. Ash took out the water bottle away from his mouth, and threw it away. He then realized Pikachu wasn't with him anymore.

"Pi-pikachu?" Ash said frantically to Brock, while trying to look for him with his hands.

"He's alright," Brock smiled, as he presented a relatively healthy Pikachu.

"Pikachu..." Ash mumbled, as he tenderly hugged Pikachu. But then he remembered something else, and his eyes widened. "Where's Raul?"

"Right here," a voice replied behind him; Ash turned around behind him. Raul was staring at him with his serious grey eyes, but there was a small smile playing on his lips. His yellow shirt and Brock's orange shirt were wrapped around several bleeding wounds that were on both his arms and his shoulder. He was rubbing his face over and over again and when he felt Ash's questioning stare, he said, "With everything that happened here, I forgot about my jaw injury - nothing to distract me from that now," he said, and flinched from the pain when he finished speaking.

"And Team Rocket?" Ash asked angrily, and Pikachu patted his cheek.

"Gone. The fucking bastards escaped when they felt the whole place coming down," Raul spat, and regretted doing so, as he clenched his jaw.

"The Electabuzz - why did it attack Team Rocket? Wasn't it one of their Pokemon?" Ash asked, while narrowing his eyes to see in the darkness.

Brock actually chuckled at this, and when he recovered he said, "No, it actually wanted to help us because I got it out of the closet. Misty placed it there when she escaped because Haruka didn't..." Brock broke off as a completely terrified expression came over his face; Ash's face reflecting the same horror.

_Misty._

Ash jumped to his feet and ignoring the alarmed yell from his friends, he was out the door.

* * *

"Misty, where are you?!" Ash screamed to the night air as he pounded the streets of Blackthorn. 

He had asked several people, among them a rock-seller, if they had seen a red-haired girl with blue eyes but no one saw her. But he had heard secretive murmurs of a nearby fire going down at the distance, but Ash didn't care about it - he only wanted to find Misty. Ash had gotten desperate enough to go to the police department, and he was running all the way there. It was difficult getting there with all the injuries he received, which earned several curious stares in his direction.

He was relieved when he saw the police department at the distance, but just when he was about to run once more to get towards it, he smelled smoke. He noticed that he was near a forest, and there was a faint trail of smoke hanging over it. He was just about to head back to the police station but there was a nagging feeling at the back of his head to go inside the shrubbery. Ash tried to ignore it but when he was leaving the woods behind, the feeling increased. Saying an apology to Misty wherever she was, Ash entered the woods.

It was completely dark, though there was a prominent smell of smoke in the air. There was a trail of flaming bushes that ventured deeper into the woods, and without knowing why, Ash followed it. As the fiery bushes were growing scarcer, the lack of breathable air was growing thinner. Ash was crouching on the ash-littered floor, and didn't lift his head until he reached a humongous clearing.

The flames rose up to the canopy of trees though the leaves there didn't catch on fire. He couldn't see if anybody was trapped over there, and was just about to call if any people were still alive when he felt a pair of eyes gazing at him. He couldn't see them through the bright orange flames that were dancing in front of him, or through the thick shrubbery behind him, but he knew that they were watching him intently. Ash was startled to hear a blood-curling shriek emanating from the fire that rang through the heavy air for several long seconds, until it stopped abruptly as he saw something like a blazing silhouette of a person and a smaller figure dart through the trees. Ash tried to get a better look at it, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. When it left, the fire died down immediately leaving only a charred ruin behind where there once was living vegetation.

Ash walked cautiously towards it and instinctively took a hold of his Pokeballs. That burning figure that he had seen left him disturbed and fearful, but he moved towards the burnt clearing anyway.

He saw amongst the ashes of what used to be the place where glorious trees once stood, a severely wounded person, whose skin almost blended in perfectly with the remains.

"A-are you ok - miss?" Ash asked timidly, he could faintly see the person had a feminine figure in its severely disfigured, by the numerous wounds, form.

She didn't respond. Ash crawled fearfully, but determinedly towards her, and he could see the person was laying face-down on the ground. With trembling fingers, he took hold of the person's frail shoulders and turned her over.

"...Misty...?" Ash croaked, suddenly feeling a freezing numbness over him, as he felt everything crumbling all around him.

He cupped her charred face in his frantic hands and with a tortured spirit, he stared at her eyes - he wanted to see her life again.

Misty's dark, open eyes only reflected a single dying ember beside her.

* * *

Yes, I'm evil. Be very afraid. :) 

I do hope you liked reading this since it was the most fun I had writing a chapter (though it took me quite a while). If I take a long time to take out a chapter it's not because I've abandoned it, or because I have writer's block, or because I don't spend too much time on the computer (quite the opposite, actually). There are two reasons; one is because I get distracted easily. I would have my writing program open, but then I'd check my favorite Internet pages, or watch anime and I wouldn't have the heart to write. The other is lack of writing confidence (which is slowly diminishing, thank goodness); especially after I read a great book or fanfiction. Sorry if this rant bothered you: I wanted a solid reason to explain (not excuse) why I don't update often. I promise this won't happen again.

A humongous thank you for all the great reviews - it was the main reason why I wrote half this chapter in only one day (I feel guilty now...).

**Kaitlin Smith: **Thank you. Thank you so very much. You were one of my most loyal readers and the guilt burned inside me most (since it took me such a long time to write this chapter out) as I read your wonderful reviews. I'm sorry, but I can't promise you that Misty won't die - many horrible things are yet to come. Oh, and poor Brock...how can you wish him to die? ;)

**Lily Pichu: **Of course I recognized you immediately as soon as I read your review! :) I'm ecstatic that you consider me one of your favorite authors - it's a great honor. I also hope that you have time to write me another review with constructive criticism (though I know fully well what I've done wrong - the first and third chapters still make me cringe).

**cold katana girl: **I'm sorry you feel that Misty is a hypocrite (though I'm not sure if you were referring to the Misty I'm writing or the one in the anime) even if I completely disagree. Also, I would appreciate if you don't bash the pairings I like since they don't apply to this story (except pokeshipping, which I won't add too much). Thank you for taking the time to read my fanfiction, though.

**Clarissa: **I really loved reading your review - it made my day! I'm so sorry that this chapter took such a long time to get out...

**mystery: **Yes, I know that the 5th chapter is violent... Um, did you like it...?


End file.
